Masters of Health Magazine February 2021 | Page 33

moms across america

There are two important take-aways from the assessment:

1.Although the EPA insists glyphosate alone is not toxic to endangered species and their habitats, it does admit that formulated glyphosate is moderately to highly toxic to fish, highly to very highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates, moderately toxic to mammals, and slightly toxic to birds on an acute exposure basis. This is an important distinction because glyphosate is never used alone. It is, however, approved and licensed alone, and therefore that policy loophole may lead to the demise of thousands of endangered species if the EPA chooses to only consider the evidence on glyphosate alone.

2.The EPA assessment found glyphosate herbicides caused Likely Adverse Affects (LAA) for 93% of species and 97% of critical habitats- 1,676 species and 759 critical habitats. This means that continuing to allow the use of glyphosate in waterways, forestry, and landscaping will lead to the destruction of these endangered species. We certainly hope glyphosate herbicide use will be banned from these uses immediately.

Monocrop farming

The EPA insists that agriculture use, however, does not threaten endangered species... however we assert that it does. Run off of agrochemicals into waterways, drift of chemical spraying, and evaporation of chemical particles which come down in the rain do affect endangered species everywhere. Damage to and destruction of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, from sugar cane is a good example. Contaminated waterways off the Florida coast and in the Everglades are another example. We also assert that this perspective of agriculture is taken primarily because modern day mono crop farming does not foster wildlife populations. The current toxic agriculture system, which destroys the soil and kills insects and mammals, is very different from biodynamic, most organic, and regenerative organic farming methods, which improve the soil, support earthworms, foster the pollinator, birds, and other wildlife populations