ecology

Genetically Modified Foods, Herbicides and Human Safety

2 researchers decry heavy use of weedkillers; manufacturer says no threat exists
Wednesday, August 19, 2015

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 19, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Farm fields are becoming soaked with increasing amounts of suspected cancer-causing herbicides, thanks to the spread of genetically modified crops that are immune to these chemicals, two researchers contend.

They make their argument in a Perspective piece in the Aug. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Farmers' use of glyphosate -- a weedkiller most commonly known as Roundup -- has increased by a factor of more than 250 in the United States, climbing from 0.4 million kilograms in 1974 to 113 million kilograms in 2014, the researchers said.

This increase is due to crops such as corn and soybeans that have been genetically altered to be "Roundup-Ready," so they can't be affected by these herbicides, said one of the researchers, Charles Benbrook. He is a research professor at the Washington State University Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources./.../