To: EPA Office of Pesticide Program Director Rick Keigwin
Tell the EPA: Ban Monsanto's monarch-killing pesticide!
Dear EPA Office of Pesticide Program Director Rick Keigwin,
I urge the EPA to revoke glyphosate’s registration and pull it from use.
Glyphosate is widely used -- nearly 300 million pounds are used in the U.S. every year, including on common crops like soy and wheat. These chemicals are likely ending up on our plates. Independent studies have found concentrations of glyphosate in human urine and breast milk. New research has found that exposure to glyphosate is linked to shorter pregnancies. Studies even indicate glyphosate has the potential to be even more harmful in combination with other chemicals.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as a Group 2A “probable” carcinogen. In addition, California regulators have included the chemical on the Proposition 65 list of probable carcinogens.
Apart from significant risks to human health, the U.S. Geological Survey routinely finds glyphosate in U.S. waterways. Ecological data also reports that glyphosate and glyphosate-formulated products are toxic to aquatic organisms and are extremely lethal to amphibians. Multiple studies show that glyphosate — widely used along the migration route for monarch butterflies — is virtually wiping out milkweed, the only food young monarchs eat. A report found monarch butterflies would need a 5-fold increase to recover from risk of quasi-extinction. Their numbers continue to decline every year and the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that because of continuous low populations there is as much as a 57% risk that the eastern monarch migration could collapse within the next 20 years.
Monsanto’s glyphosate is harming our environment and the very ecosystems we depend on for sustainable food and farming systems — and it’s likely also harming our health. The studies are clear — we need action now. I urge the EPA to protect our health and the environment by revoking glyphosate’s license and pulling it from use.
Sincerely,
I urge the EPA to revoke glyphosate’s registration and pull it from use.
Glyphosate is widely used -- nearly 300 million pounds are used in the U.S. every year, including on common crops like soy and wheat. These chemicals are likely ending up on our plates. Independent studies have found concentrations of glyphosate in human urine and breast milk. New research has found that exposure to glyphosate is linked to shorter pregnancies. Studies even indicate glyphosate has the potential to be even more harmful in combination with other chemicals.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as a Group 2A “probable” carcinogen. In addition, California regulators have included the chemical on the Proposition 65 list of probable carcinogens.
Apart from significant risks to human health, the U.S. Geological Survey routinely finds glyphosate in U.S. waterways. Ecological data also reports that glyphosate and glyphosate-formulated products are toxic to aquatic organisms and are extremely lethal to amphibians. Multiple studies show that glyphosate — widely used along the migration route for monarch butterflies — is virtually wiping out milkweed, the only food young monarchs eat. A report found monarch butterflies would need a 5-fold increase to recover from risk of quasi-extinction. Their numbers continue to decline every year and the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that because of continuous low populations there is as much as a 57% risk that the eastern monarch migration could collapse within the next 20 years.
Monsanto’s glyphosate is harming our environment and the very ecosystems we depend on for sustainable food and farming systems — and it’s likely also harming our health. The studies are clear — we need action now. I urge the EPA to protect our health and the environment by revoking glyphosate’s license and pulling it from use.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
Monarch butterflies are in trouble. They’ve declined by 90% in the last 20 years. And a key culprit is the massive increase in the use of glyphosate -- the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup®.
The EPA is accepting public comments on whether to let Monsanto keep poisoning our food system with glyphosate. But you only have a few days left to speak up and urge the EPA to ban this toxic pesticide!
The EPA is accepting public comments on whether to let Monsanto keep poisoning our food system with glyphosate. But you only have a few days left to speak up and urge the EPA to ban this toxic pesticide!