Let’s go back to talking about glyphosate After the “bomb” released from New study carried out by the Ramazzini Institute who rekindled the spotlight on one of the most used herbicides (and discussed) in the world. What was discovered? Italian researchers observed very worrying carcinogenic effects even in doses considered safe (we talked about it here).
Following these yet another conclusions, which confirm the fears expressed for years by Iarc and Isde, the debate is rekindled: what does science on glyphosate really say? Why has it been renewed in Europe for another ten years? And what do we risk because of the exposure to this herbicide?
On the question it intervened now The ISDE ITALIA – Doctors for the Environment Association who decided to Contact all the mayors of our country directly to ask to stop the use of glyphosate.
In an open letter, the President of ISDE, Roberto Romiziinvites local administrations to act immediately:
We write to you in the light of the results of studies recently published on authoritative international scientific journals, which confirm the very serious damage induced by glyphosate.
The data of the new study have in fact aroused great concern because tumors also appeared at doses equivalent to those still authorized by the European Union today. A detail that convinced the European Commission to take a step back: Brussels asked EFSA (the food safety authority) and the ACHA (the chemicals agency) to carefully re -evaluate the results of the Ramazzini studio. The revision process will last up to 21 months.
Already in 2015 the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) had classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic for man”. Since then the debate has never passed away, also fueled by the great economic interests that revolve around this herbicide, among the most used in intensive agriculture.
According to Isde Italia, however, the most recent data leave no room for doubt: Chronic exposure to glyphosate can increase the incidence of tumors, Including rare shapes such as childhood leukemias and cancer of the nervous system, liver and thyroid. Abnormal numbers that make it urgent, according to the association, the adoption of the precautionary principle.
Glyphosate would not be dangerous only for its potential carcinogenicity. Some research indicates that it could also play in disorders such as Autism and Parkinson’s disease. In fact, some studies hypothesize that the herbicide can interfere with the nervous system and with the balance of the intestinal microbiota, opening worrying scenarios.
Romiti recalls:
It is important to underline that the experimental studies mentioned are added to solid epidemiological evidence in humans, which have clearly documented how the exposure to glyphosate, confirmed by the measurement of this substance in the urine, increases the risk of mortality for all causes, the onset of insulin-resistance, alter the metabolism of glucose and increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Unfortunately today, despite the appeals by the international scientific community, the glyphosate remains the most used herbicide in the world; It continues to creep into our food chain, in the water we drink and in the air we breathe. And, as always, we will then be forced to pay large moral and material damage for not having been prudent first.
You need safer alternatives
Precisely for these reasons, Isde Italia asks the mayors to adopt concrete measures immediately: prohibit the use of glyphosate in areas of municipal competence, such as parks, public gardens, road edges and green school areas. The Association invites you to prefer mechanical or natural desert practices, already successfully experienced in various Italian and European municipalities.
In fact, there are those who have already made this courageous choicereplacing the glyphosate with alternative methods, safer to health and the environment, we think of Conegliano Valdobbiadene (Prosecco DOCG), Bucine, Livorno and Ferrara. But there is no shortage of steps back: in Vercelli, after ten years of stop, the mayor has just reopened to use the glyphosate for the maintenance of public green.
The battle to get rid of glyphosate is therefore far from closed. But on a political level something moves again: a group of MEP has officially asked the European Commission to review the authorization granted for another ten years in 2023. If the new assessments confirm the risks, Brussels may have to go back to the decision taken (and we wish many).
In the meantime, local administrations should do their part. It is a choice of common sense because waiting for irreversible damage to manifest could mean repeating errors already seen with asbestos, lead or other substances prohibited too late:
Every day that passes without a decisive action on the regulatory front is a day in which the current generation and, potentially, a new generation are exposed since prenatal life to a molecule capable of altering vital physiological processes and increasing the risk of diseases that can manifest themselves at a distance of decades.
