GMO Enlist Duo 2,4-D: Plant Cancer
The Answer to Roundup Resistant Superweeds
Perception: The use of Roundup on crops has decreased since the introduction of GMO Roundup Ready Crops, therefore no new GMO pesticides are used on food crops.
Reality: GMO Roundup Ready Crops led to an increase in the use of Roundup on crops, resulting in Roundup resistant superweeds. This has led to the creation of new GMO crops which are resistant to a dangerous herbicide called Enlist Duo 2,4-D.
Key Points:
*"Recently, Dow proposed using 2, 4-D to the EPA in an effort to attack weeds with a more toxic herbicide. Dow has also created genetically engineered corn and soybeans that are resistant to 2, 4-D."
*"Now, farmers can use a large dose of 2, 4-D herbicide on their fields without damaging their own crops."
*"Despite many protests, EPA has allowed the use of 2, 4-D and the genetically engineered crops for commercial use."
*This means more chemicals are being sprayed on food with a greater possibility of human ingestion and contact."
*"2,4-D has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, kidney and liver problems, and endocrine disruption."
Read Full Article:
Source:
Midwest Pesticide Action Center, Commercial Use of 2, 2-D. (2014, August 5). Retrieved from http://midwestpesticideaction.org/commercial-use-of-2-4-d/
Key points:
*"It's used widely in agriculture in soybeans, corn, sugarcane, and wheat fields, and it turns up in most "weed and feed" products as well as in many lawn treatments."
*"Researchers have observed apparent links between exposure to 2, 4-D and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (a blood cancer) and sarcoma (a soft-tissue cancer)."
*"Nevertheless, in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared 2, 4-D a possible human carcinogen, based on evidence that it damages human cells and in a large number of studies, caused cancer in laboratory animals."
*"More conclusive is the proof that 2, 4-D falls into a class of compounds called endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds that mimic or inhibit the body's hormones."
*"Dozens of epidemiological, animal, and laboratory studies have shown a link between 2, 4-D and thyroid disorders."
*"The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that by 2020, the use of 2, 4-D could rise between 100 percent and 600 percent now that it has been approved as part of Enlist Duo." (Enlist Duo 2, 4-D is a combination of Glyphosate and 2, 4-D.)
Read Full Article:
Source:
Sedbrook, Danielle. (2016, March 15). 2,4-D: The Most Dangerous Pesticide You've Never Heard Of. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/24-d-most-dangerous-pesticide-youve-never-heard
Key Points:
*"2,-4-D is highly toxic and has been linked to increased evidence of cancer and damage to reproductive systems."
*"Glyphosate is the most used active ingredient in pesticides used within the U.S. agricultural sector, and has been for the most recent six years of EPA data."
*"Chronic exposure to glyphosate is known to cause kidney damage, neurological impairment, and negative reproductive health effects."
*"Because they eat and drink more than adults in proportion to their body weight, children receive higher doses of toxic chemicals when exposed to pesticides in their surrounding environment, or through food and water."
*"Pesticides that affect the endocrine system like glyphosate are particularly dangerous for children, as the disrupt the glands and hormones that facilitate regular growth and development."
*"As it stands, almost all children have contact with pesticides-in a study of pre-school aged children in Seattle, pesticide metabolites (detectable pesticide residues found in urine samples) were found in 99% of children tested, with at least two different pesticides present in approximately 75% of children tested."
*"In 2008 the International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health published a study which found an association between childhood pesticide exposure and neurodevelopmental and behavioral impairments."
*"Both 2,4-D and glyphosate have been linked to disruption of the endocrine system."
*"At doses lower than what is commonly applied in agriculture, roundup causes endocrine disruption an cell death in human liver cells."
*"A 2013 study found that ingesting glyphosate residues through diet is biologically disruptive, damaging gut bacteria necessary for detoxification, and induces disease."
Read Full Article:
Source:
Human Health and Pesticides Glyphosate and 2, 4-D. (2015). Retrieved from http://midwestpesticideaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/MPAC_WhitePaper-final-12.11.15.pdf
Key Points:
*"For control of annual and perennial weeds and use on Enlist™ corn, soybeans and cotton; use as a non-selective burndown; chemical fallow; and use as a preplant or preemergence or postemergence herbicide on listed crops, for control of emerged weeds only."
*Specimen Label: "WARNING"
*"Harmful If Swallowed"
*"Enlist Duo is designed to be applied to corn, soybean, and cotton crops containing Enlist™ traits. These are patented genes that provide tolerance to Enlist Duo."
*"2,4-D, one of the active ingredients in this product, mimics the naturally occurring plant auxins and overloads the plant’s auxin balance affecting vital processes, such as cell division and elongation, resulting in abnormal growth and plant death."
*"Glyphosate, the other active ingredient in this product, inhibits the EPSP synthase enzyme. This enzyme is found only in plants and microorganisms and is essential to forming specific amino acids."
*"Biological Degradation: Degradation of this product is primarily a biological process carried out by soil microbes."
Read Full Article:
Source:
Specimen Label Dow AgroSciences Enlist Duo With Colex D Technology. (2017, February 2). Retrieved from https://www.enlist.com/content/dam/hdas/enlist/pdfs/Enlist%20Duo%20Specimen%20Label.pdf
Key Points:
*"On the basis of information furnished by the registrant, the above named pesticide is hereby registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act."
*"This product moves through the plant from the point of foliage contact to and into the root system. Visible effects include twisting of leaves and curvature of stems followed by a gradual wilting and yellowing of the plant that advances to complete browning of above-ground growth and deterioration of underground plant parts."
*"Mode of Action: 2,4-D, one of the active ingredients in this product, mimics the naturally occurring plant auxins and overloads the plant’s auxin balance affecting vital processes, such as cell division and elongation, resulting in abnormal growth and plant death. Glyphosate, the other active ingredient in this product, inhibits the EPSP synthase enzyme."
Read Full Article:
Source:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Pesticide Programs Registration Division Notice of Pesticide Registration Name of Pesticide Product Enlist Duo. (2017, January 12). Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/062719-00649-20170112.pdf