September 5, 2015
To: (Sent to the Mayor, City Attorney, Country Officials, City Council Representatives and many others who represent the City of San Diego)
From: Susan Trump, Search for the Cause, Not Just the Cure
RE: Round Up Use on Public Lands and San Diego’s Responsibility
Dear Public Official:
The City of San Diego is liberally using Round Up, glyphosate, on parks, public areas and waterways. Entire countries, including France, Ski Lanka, Chile, Brazil and South Africa have banned the substance from use, sales and importation. We are past the age of ignorance. We understand the consequences and it is generally known that Round Up is not safe for humans, plants, insects or animals, yet its use continues to the extent it is now in the food supply.
The City of San Diego has just sued Monsanto on similar charges including deceit and dangerous substances. No one is blind to the fact that Monsanto has very little government regulation and has lied consistently over decades about the safety of their products, evidenced by the San Diego suit and many other suits against the corporation and its subsidiaries.
In trying to explain the dangers to your pregnant park employee, I was dumbstruck to find that she weighed her safety based on the fact that the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego have proclaimed “Round Up is safe.” This city cannot endure another financial crisis. At the point of recognition of the problem, the responsibility for change is due.
Below is a list of common side effects of glyphosate. You all have been touched by these conditions. I urge you to stand up for what is right and let us become a city that is proud of its dandelions.
ADHD:
In farming communities, there is a strong correlation between Roundup exposure and attention deficit disorder (ADHD), most likely due to glyphosate’s ability to disrupt thyroid hormone functions.
Alzheimer’s Disease:
In studies, it was found that Roundup causes the same type of neural death and oxidative stress associated with Alzheimer’s. It also affects CaMKII, which is an enzyme whose dysregulation has also been associated with the disease.
Autism:
Glyphosates have a number of known biological effects that are associated with pathologies that are known for autism. Furthermore, glysophates capacity to promote the storage of aluminum in the brain may be a leading cause of autism in the US.
Birth Defects:
Glyphosate can disrupt the signaling pathway for Vitamin A, which is crucial for proper fetal development. A study showed elevated level of glyphosates and birth defects in children, including an imperforate anus, growth hormone deficiency, heart defects, amongst others.
Cancer:
Glyphosate has a known capacity to induce DNA damage which attributes to the high cancer rates found. Common cancers associated with glyphosate are breast cancer, brain cancer, and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance:
Glyphosate causes imbalances in gut bacteria, mineral deficiency, amino acid depletion, and the impairment of enzymes used in detoxifying environmental toxins, which parallels characteristics of celiac disease.
Chronic Kidney Disease:
Glyphosate destroys the renal tissue when it mixes in with hard water and nephrotoxic metals and forms complexes, which has caused kidney failure in agricultural workers in India, Sri Lanka, and central America.
Colitis:
Glyphosate’s toxicity to beneficial bacteria that suppress clostridia, along with clostridia’s high tolerance to glyphosate, could be a major factor in the overgrowth of clostridia. Clostridia overgrowth, specifically C. difficile is a proven causal factor of colitis.
Depression:
Glyphosate disrupts certain chemical processes that impact the production of serotonin; serotonin impairment has long been linked to depression. It also regulates mood, sleep, and appetite.
Diabetes:
Rats that were fed an environmentally relevant dose of Roundup over 30 days at the onset of puberty had reduced testosterone production that altered testicular cell morphology and delay the onset of puberty. Low levels of testosterone is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes.
Heart Disease:
Glyphosate disrupts the body’s enzymes causing lysosomal dysfunction, a major factor in heart failure and cardiovascular disease.
Hypothyroidism:
A house-to-house survey of 65,000 people in farming communities in Argentina where Roundup is used found a higher rates of people with hyperthyroidism.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease:
Glyphosate can cause severe tryptophan deficiency, which can lead to an extreme inflammatory bowel disease. This severely disrupts the body’s ability to absorb nutrients through the gut due to inflammation, diarrhea, and bleeding.
Liver Disease:
A 2009 study published in Toxicology found that low doses of Roundup can disrupt human liver cell function.
Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS):
Glyphosate disrupts sulfate transport from the gut to the liver and over time it may lead to a severe sulfate deficiency in the brain. Sulfate deficiency in the brain has been associated with ALS.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS):
It is believed that IBS causes gut bacteria to leak into the vasculature, which triggers an immune reaction and consequently an autoimmune disorder resulting in the destruction of the myelin sheath.
Parkinson’s Disease:
It has been well documented that exposure to glyphosate leads to the onset of Parkinson’s and lab studies show that glyphosate induces the cell death characteristics of the disease.
Pregnancy Problems (infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths):
Glyphosate is toxic to human placental cells, and scientist say that it explains the amount of pregnancy problems experienced by agricultural workers exposed to the herbicide
Obesity:
Glyphosate exposure may contribute to obesity in humans because it produces a shift in gut bacteria to produce endotoxin-producers. A study transferred a strand of endotoxin bacteria from the guy obese human into gut of mice and the mice became obese.
Reproductive Problems:
Delayed puberty, decreased sperm production, and decreased testosterone production was found in male rats who were exposed to high levels of glyphosate either during prenatal or pubertal development.
Respiratory Problems:
High rates of respiratory problems was found when a survey of over 65,000 people in a farming town in Argentina where Roundup is commonly used.
This overwhelming evidence can only strengthen a fact that is already quite obvious: companies like Monsanto are creating products that do more damage than good. It is important that people keep informed about where their food comes from to live, long, healthy lives.
The source of the above list was: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28856-monsanto-s-roundup-enough-to-make-you-sick. The resources, however, are endless.