Herbicides

Es ist fast bewundernswert, wie erfolgreich die Lobbyisten der großen Saatguthersteller wie Monsanto in den vergangenen Monaten gewesen sind. Sowohl in den USA als auch in Europa haben sie mit Hilfe der Politik ihre Macht ausgedehnt. In den USA haben sie es tatsächlich geschafft, eine Provision in ein landwirtschaftliches Gesetzespaket einzubauen, wonach rechtliche Möglichkeiten, den Anbau von genetisch veränderten Saatgut zu verhindern, ein Jahr ausgeschlossen werden. Seit dem 29. März, dem Tag, an dem Obama das Gesetzespaket unterschrieb, ist es de facto unmöglich, gegen den Anbau von möglicherweise gesundheitsgefährdendem genetisch veränderten Saatgut zu klagen. Monsanto besitzt jetzt bereits 90 Prozent aller Patente auf genetisch verändertes Saatgut. In den nächsten Monaten werden sie bestimmt versuchen, einige neue Sorten in Umlauf zu bringen, natürlich nur, solange es keiner verhindern kann.

Wageningen is op zaterdag 25 mei onderdeel van een wereldwijde actie tegen het Amerikaanse bedrijf Monsanto. Dit chemiebedrijf ligt onder vuur van de milieubeweging. Monsanto maakte in het verleden onder andere het ontbladeringsmiddel Agent Orange, bekend uit de Vietnamoorlog. Tegenwoordig is het leider op het terrein van genetisch geproduceerde gewassen. Het bedrijf is onder andere in Wageningen actief. Volgens de organisatie hebben zich op de pagina van March against Monsanto op Facebook zo'n duizend personen aangemeld voor de actie in Wageningen.

The US supreme court came down solidly on the side of the agricultural giant Monsanto on Monday, ruling unanimously that an Indiana farmer could not use patented genetically modified soybeans to create new seeds without paying the company. The case – which was cast by the farmer's supporters as a classic tale of David vs Goliath – could well dictate the future of modern farming. In an unanimous ruling written by Justice Elena Kagan, the court ruled that the farmer, Vernon Bowman, had infringed on Monsanto's patent for its GM soybeans when he bought some of those seeds from a local grain elevator and planted them for a second, late-season crop. Monsanto sued, arguing that Bowman had signed a contract when he initially bought the Roundup Ready soybeans in the spring, agreeing not to save any of the harvest for replanting. The seeds are genetically modified to be resistant to Roundup Ready weedkiller.

25 mei 2013 wordt wereldwijd aangehouden door activisten als protestdag tegen het multinationale biotechnologie- en landbouwgif bedrijf Monsanto. Deze demonstratie richt zich tegen de bedrijfsstrategie van Monsanto, waaronder de patentregelingen op leven, en de groeiende invloed van dit bedrijf op publieke en wetenschappelijke instituten wereldwijd. Voor een groep bezorgde burgers en studenten leek Wageningen de meest voor de hand liggende plek om deze demonstratie te laten plaats vinden. Dit omdat de Wageningen University and Researchcentre (WUR) wereldwijd een van de grootste universitaire onderzoekscentra op het gebied van biotechnologie is, en hieromheen een epicentrum van voedselbedrijven is ontstaan. Monsanto heeft ook een vestiging in Wageningen door de overname van Seminis. Het evenement heeft op facebook al meer dan 1000 bevestigde deelnemers. De aantallen worden verwacht toe te nemen zolang de voorbereidingen vorderen.

Understanding the toxicity of chemicals to organisms requires considering the molecular mechanisms involved as well as the relationships between exposure concentration and toxic effects with time. Our current knowledge about such relationships is mainly explained from a toxicodynamic and toxicokinetic perspective. This paper re-introduces an old approach that takes into account the biochemical mode of action and their resulting biological effects over time of exposure. Empirical evidence demonstrates that the Druckrey-Küpfmüller toxicity model, which was validated for chemical carcinogens in the early 1960s, is also applicable to a wide range of toxic compounds in ecotoxicology. According to this model, the character of a poison is primarily determined by the reversibility of critical receptor binding. Chemicals showing irreversible or slowly reversible binding to specific receptors will produce cumulative effects with time of exposure, and whenever the effects are also irreversible (e.g. death) they are reinforced over time; these chemical have time-cumulative toxicity. Compounds having non-specific receptor binding, or involving slowly reversible binding to some receptors that do not contribute to toxicity, may also be time-dependent; however, their effects depend primarily on the exposure concentration, with time playing a minor role. Consequently, the mechanism of toxic action has important implications for risk assessment. Traditional risk approaches cannot predict the impacts of toxicants with time-cumulative toxicity in the environment. While most toxicants with a generic mode of action can be evaluated by the traditional concentration–effect approaches, a certain number of chemicals, including carcinogens, methylmercury, rodenticides, neonicotinoids and cartap insecticides have toxic effects that are reinforced with time of exposure (time-cumulative effects). Therefore, the traditional risk approach cannot predict the impacts of the latter chemicals in the environment. New assessment procedures are needed to evaluate the risk that the latter chemicals pose on humans and the environment. An example is shown to explain how the risk of time-dependent toxicants is underestimated when using current risk assessment protocols.

Along with the wide use of pesticides in the world, the concerns over their health impacts are rapidly growing. There is a huge body of evidence on the relation between exposure to pesticides and elevated rate of chronic diseases such as different types of cancers, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson, Alzheimer, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), birth defects, and reproductive disorders. There is also circumstantial evidence on the association of exposure to pesticides with some other chronic diseases like respiratory problems, particularly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, chronic nephropathies, autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematous and rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and aging.

Met de benoeming van BASF-functionaris Bennard van Ravenzwaay tot bijzonder hoogleraar verkwanselt de Wageningen Universiteit haar onafhankelijkheid aan de industrie. Dat vindt Pesticide Action Network, een Europese koepel van organisaties die tegen het gebruik van bestrijdingsmiddelen in de landbouw ageren. Volgens PAN Europe probeert het Duitse chemische bedrijf BASF met de leerstoel van Van Ravenzwaay industrie-invloed te kopen aan de universiteit. BASF is een belangrijke producent van bestrijdingsmiddelen. De nieuwe leerstoel wordt volledig gefinancierd door de multinational uit Ludwigshafen, waar Van Ravenzwaay hoofd experimentele toxicologie en ecologie is en blijft.

Two years ago, Danish farmer Ib Borup Pedersen thought an epidemic had broken out among his 450 pigs. Suddenly, his animals were suffering from chronic diarrhoea, eating less or developing stomach ulcers, while some of his piglets were born with disabilities and his boars displayed fertility problems. Something always seemed to be the matter. Not just with the pigs, but with the profits of his farming company as well. Due to the increasing number of unhealthy animals, his sales plummeted, while the expenses for vets and drugs kept rising. Until he asked himself the crucial question: what if it was the feed? Pedersen followed his farmer’s intuition and exchanged the new feed for his old recipe. And what do you know – the health problems disappeared within two days. What was the difference? The feed that sickened the animals consisted of imported genetically modified (GMO) soy, whereas the old recipe consisted of soy without GMOs and fishmeal. Other farmers have since confirmed the findings, published by Pedersen on 13 April last year, in the Danish farming magazine Effektivt Landbrug.