Much of the uproar surrounding the herbicide has focused on the active ingredient, glyphosate. But for glyphosate to penetrate plant cells, it needs an adjuvant. If you’re familiar with vaccine adjuvants like mercury or aluminum, you probably have a sinking feeling in your gut. And guess what?

You’re right!

Say hello to polyethoxylated tallow amine or polyoxyethyleneamine (POEA). POEA is derived from tallow, or animal fat (usually beef or sheep). It’s a detergent that constitutes 15% of Roundup formulations, and it’s one of the reasons roundup works as well as it does. When glyphosate-based products that don’t contain an ethoxylated tallow amine (ETA) formulation are used, water is more easily able to wash the herbicide off the plant. This renders the formula 6% effective.

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So why would farmers have to do without that extra 6% effectiveness? Easy answer there – the European Union banned POEAs in 2016. In their scientific assessment, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) said,

Therefore the exposure assessment for operators, workers, bystanders, residents and consumers could not be performed. Compared to glyphosate, a higher toxicity of the POE-tallowamine was observed on all endpoints investigated.”

Statement of EFSA

According to another study in 2004,

As a result, human poisoning with this herbicide is not with the active ingredient alone but with complex and variable mixtures. Therefore, It is difficult to separate the toxicity of glyphosate from that of the formulation as a whole or to determine the contribution of surfactants to overall toxicity. Experimental studies suggest that the toxicity of the surfactant, polyoxyethyleneamine (POEA), is greater than the toxicity of glyphosate alone and commercial formulations alone.”

Glyphosate Poisoning

To be clear, POEA and other similarly formulated adjuvants are more toxic than glyphosate, yet regulators have no way of measuring how much exposure you’ve had because it isn’t the formula’s active ingredient. Yet studies that were done on fish and aquatic animals have found that Roundup formulations are significantly more toxic than glyphosate alone. Original Roundup was 10-40 times more toxic than glyphosate alone in fish species and 10-50 times more toxic in frogs. A fruit fly study in January 2020 found that fruit flies exposed to less than lethal amounts of both Roundup Concentrate Plus and POEA had decreased fertility.

POEA isn’t the active ingredient in Roundup, which is the reasoning used to explain why this substance has not been tested to the extent glyphosate has been. All that companies need to do is provide documentation saying an ingredient doesn’t kill weeds or insects for regulating agencies to see no need to ask for safety studies. Much of media coverage of the dangers of Roundup has focused on glyphosate because it has been labeled a probable carcinogen by a major worldwide health organization. What would POEAs be labeled if regulators actually looked into it?

Sources:

• Ignoring Adjuvant Toxicity Falsifies the Safety Profile of Commercial Pesticides – Frontiers in Public Health
• Ethoxylated adjuvants of glyphosate-based herbicides are active principles of human cell toxicity – National Library of Medicine

The Trump Administration has rolled back a regulation requiring oil and gas companies to detect and fix methane gas leaks from pipelines, storage facilities, and wells. The director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cited the economic benefits of relieving the burden of reducing air pollution on small-medium sized energy companies.

E.P.A. has been working hard to fulfill President Trump’s promise to cut burdensome and ineffective regulations for our domestic energy industry. Regulatory burdens put into place by the Obama-Biden administration fell heavily on small and medium-sized energy businesses.”

Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency

This decision could have serious effects on climate. Methane makes up 10% of greenhouse gas emissions, but according to the EPA, methane is 28 to 36 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Methane gas emissions are at an all-time high globally, and fossil fuel leaks in the U.S. play a significant role in that.

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Over the past few years there has been an explosion of new research on this, and the literature has coalesced — 80 percent of papers show that methane from oil and gas leaks is two to three times higher than the E.P.A.’s estimates…” 

Robert Howarth, an earth systems scientist at Cornell University

Historically speaking, the United States government has proven it is more than happy to put business and profits before protecting the environment while paying lip service to climate concerns. The current administration clearly follows in those footsteps.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will ban “harmful” single-use plastics by the year 2021. The precise list of products that will be banned will be available after scientific evaluation.

As parents we’re at a point when we take our kids to the beach and we have to search out a patch of sand that isn’t littered with straws, Styrofoam or bottles…That’s a problem, one that we have to do something about.”

Justin Trudeau

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This new legislation is based on bans passed in the European Union and other nations last year. During a G7 summit in Quebec in 2019, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and Italy, and the European Union signed a new letter against plastic pollution in the oceans. Those countries and the EU have committed to making 100% of plastics recyclable, recoverable, or reusable by 2030.

A new study done by the University of Queensland shows how bad the pesticide mixture problem is, in the first comprehensive analysis of the pesticide mixtures in rivers and creeks that discharge into the Great Barrier Reef.

Image credit: Force Change

Professor Michael Warne, a researcher at UQ’s School of Environmental Sciences, analyzed 2,600 water samples from 15 different waterways that discharge into the Great Barrier Reefs, over a four-year time span.

The data showed pesticide mixtures in 99.8% of the samples collected, with as many as 20 different pesticides in one sample. The more individual pesticides in a sample, the more detrimental the pesticide mixture is to the aquatic ecosystem. The results of the study further encourage the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan.

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Dr. Warne said the best way to address the problem of pesticides and pesticide mixtures in run-off was to work with land managers, share information and help them to improve their pesticide management practices.

“We are doing just that with other partners including Farmacist, James Cook University and the Department of Environment and Science through Project Bluewater which is funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation,” he said.

Pesticide mixtures a bigger problem than previously thought

The study found that pesticide runoff was generally the worst in areas where sugar cane was being grown. As a result of these findings, the researchers are working with sugar cane farmers to improve pesticide management and application through upgraded equipment as well as reduce overall pesticide usage while switching to lower risk pesticides.

Police in Portland have been using tear gas on protestors since May, and officials are worried about the effect of the gas on the health of the protestors and the water in the area, especially the Willamette River. Since July 24th, the state has received 160 complaints about tear gas, in addition to comments on social media.

While aren’t many studies on the long-term effects of tear gas exposure, which authorities have sprayed over protestors since George Floyd’s death on May 25th, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that prolonged exposure to riot control agents like CS gas can cause eye problems like scarring, glaucoma, and cataracts, and may possibly cause breathing problems such as asthma. A small sample of protestors has reported that frequent exposure to tear gas has altered their menstrual cycles. The Oregon Health & Science University released a statement on tear gas and COVID-19.

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While large gatherings in general provide increased opportunities for the transmission of COVID-19, the use of tear gas could significantly exacerbate the spread. Tear gas is a chemical that attacks the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and causes severe pain and irritation; exposure to tear gas can result in blindness, bleeding, crying and coughing. The release of airborne droplets through tear gas-induced coughing could accelerate the spread of COVID-19 and lead to a surge in new cases. Damage to the respiratory tract can put individuals at greater risk of adverse outcomes if they become infected with COVID-19.”

Danny Jacobs, President of OHSU

In addition to human health, environmental regulators are also concerned about the nightly applications of tear gas. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has asked the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services to respond to that.

Due to the unprecedented amount of tear gas products used within the downtown area over the last 90 days, DEQ is requiring the City to conduct additional water quality monitoring…” 

Christine Svetkovich, DEQ Water Quality Manager

The DEQ has also asked the city to report on the collections of lead, copper, barium, zinc, perchlorate, total chromium, and hexavalent chromium in the water supply.

It might be time to switch to loose leaf tea.

A study from researchers at McGill University in Canada has found that a single tea bag releases 11.6 billion microplastic particles and 3.1 billion smaller nano plastic particles. Those numbers are much higher than the amounts of plastics measured previously in other foods and beverages.

Researchers tested 4 different types of plastic commercial tea bags by cutting them open, washing them, and steeping them in almost-boiling water for 5 minutes. Researchers then analyzed the tea bags and their particles using electron microscopes and spectroscopy.

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The Canadian team tested the potential toxicity of the microparticles released from the tea bags by exposing water fleas to the contaminated water, finding the particles had behavioural effects and developmental malformations on the fleas.

Milk? Sugar? Microplastics? Some tea bags found to shed billions of particles

Teabags were commonly made out of natural fibers and many still are, however many tea bags made out of natural fibers are sealed with plastic. It’s becoming more and more common for teabags to be made out of heat-safe plastics. These are most common in the pyramid-shaped tea bags that tend to be a bit more heavy-duty.

Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastics less than five millimeters long. Microplastics are the most prevalent type of marine debris, and can also be found in the rain, the wind, and even inside our own bodies. Microplastics come off of out clothes, plastic bottle fragments, cigarette filters, beauty products, and many other plastic materials. The particles then breakdown into nano-plastics, even smaller particles of plastic.

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The effects of microplastics on human health are largely unknown due to a lack of research. That being said, plastic is toxic and has been proven to cause cancer. Microplastics are everywhere, and we really have no way to filter them at this point. Check out this article to learn more about plastic toxicity and how to detox from it, and other endocrine system disruptors.

For alternatives to tea bags, try compostable tea bags, loose leaf tea, or metal reusable tea ball strainers.

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District (FKMCD) has approved the trial release of genetically modified mosquitos. Oxitec, the company responsible for developing the mosquitos, has received approval to release 750 million modified mosquitoes in Monroe County, Florida over a two year period. The release could begin as early as 2021, although exact times and locations have not been announced to the public.

The public was also not able to vote on this approval, as the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board members rejected a referendum that would have given Monroe County voters the ability to reject the GM mosquito trial. like they did in 2016. Control Board members have reported over 2,000 complaints from Florida residents in regards to the mosquitos. One point of contention is Oxitec’s failure to provide a detailed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida — the Covid-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change — the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment. Now the Monroe County Mosquito Control District has given the final permission needed. What could possibly go wrong? We don’t know, because EPA unlawfully refused to seriously analyze environmental risks, now without further review of the risks, the experiment can proceed…”

Jaydee Hanson, Policy Director for the International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety

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The company has genetically modified male mosquitos so that their offspring do not make it to adulthood. But a team of independent researchers discovered that some of the offspring do survive, leading to wild female mosquitos giving birth to mosquitos that reached sexual maturity. Early lab tests at Oxitec revealed that 3% of mosquito offspring survived. It’s unclear if the company continued tested the sexual viability of the survived offspring, but it’s unclear if slowly replacing the current mosquito population with a genetically modified alternative is a good idea for anyone other than the people profiting off of it.