The Vietnam War Toxin Now Lurking in US Food

Sign the petition to USDA and President Obama to stop Dow Chemical’s “Agent Orange” crops

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It took years for scientists to fully understand the danger of Agent Orange, but that hasn't stopped Dow Chemical from bringing the specter of Agent Orange to our food supply.

Dow Chemical has genetically engineered pesticide-promoting varieties of corn and soybeans to survive repeated dousing with 2,4-D. The herbicide 2,4-D is considered to be the less toxic half of Agent Orange. But it's also the seventh largest source of dioxins in the environment. According to the World Health Organization, dioxins are highly toxic persistent environmental pollutants that "can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer."

Continue Learning>>>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-kucinich/agent-orange-herbicide_b_5453812.html

EPA Seeks Comment on Proposed Decision to Register Enlist

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We are making this action available for public comment because the choline salt of 2,4-D, which is less prone to drift and volatilization than its other forms, is not currently registered for these uses. Glyphosate, however, is already registered for several varieties of GE soybeans and corn. Since no new use pattern and no new exposures for glyphosate are being considered with this registration action, no further assessment is needed for glyphosate.

2,4-D is one of the most widely used herbicides to control weeds. 2,4-D has been registered for many years in the United States and is registered in dozens of countries, such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, 26 European Union Members, and many member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Public comments on the EPA’s proposed regulatory decision must be submitted by June 30, 2014, to EPA docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0195 at www.regulations.gov. After the comment period closes, EPA will review all of the comments and reach a final decision, which the Agency expects to issue in late summer or early fall.

Continue Learning>>>http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/2-4-d-glyphosate.html

Agent Orange from farm to table

While my sister-in-law put the finishing touches on Thanksgiving dinner, I listened to her friend recount the losing battle her husband, a Vietnam veteran, fought with lung cancer. She explained her husband’s illness was caused by his wartime exposure to the toxic defoliant Agent Orange, produced primarily by two companies, Dow Chemical and Monsanto.

Decades after Agent Orange was sprayed over South Vietnam, we have borne witness to the human toll of exposure to its cocktail of chemicals, including 2,4-D. It would be wise to approach with extreme caution any regulatory action that would encourage more — not less — use of 2,4-D. What’s more, herbicide use on American farmland simply perpetuates a vicious cycle: Spraying leads to weed resistance, which leads to more spraying. The solution is to break the cycle by investing in a different kind of innovation, one that promotes ecological solutions to weed control.

On March 11, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service closed its public comment period on the question of regulating these new crops. If the USDA approves the seeds, the EPA still has to assess whether and how 2,4-D should be sprayed. Until then, environmental and health advocates, such as the Center for Food Safety, are urging Americans to air their concerns about this new use of genetic engineering. It’s time we pivot from a corrosive cycle and support the kind of innovations that get decades-old, toxic chemicals off our farms, fields and lawns.
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/3/agent-orange-farmtotableherbicidemonsantodowchemicalagriculture.html
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