Thank you, Bianca, for expressing our concerns about this topic so well.
I am submitting for the record (below and attached) for tonight’s board meeting a letter just written by Dr. Ray Seidler when he heard the news. Please review and consider this information.
We are all available to continue this discussion, and hope to hear that the decision tonight will be to research alternatives to the use of glyphosate and other Highly Hazardous Pesticides on school grounds.
Thank you for considering the health and well-being of our children first in all of your decisions.
Kristina Lefever
President
Pollinator Project Rogue Valley
The letter from Dr. Ray Seidler follows:
March 10, 2020
To the Board Members of the Grants Pass School District –
Glyphosate based weed products (herbicides) are the most common weed killers used in the
world, and probably the most controversial as well. How can a weed killer like RoundUp (a
glyphosate-based week killer) be dangerous?
Regulatory agencies such as the US EPA and the European equivalent, EFSA, have declared
that glyphosate is not capable of causing cancers nor other serious illnesses if used properly
as indicated on the label. Why then are over 40,000 law suits pending in an upcoming class
action lawsuit that may exceed $12 billion, accusing the manufacturers of GBH herbicides of
causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer? Distinct from regulatory authorities,
two of the world premier public health organizations IARC (World Health Organization) and
the ATSDR( U.S. Dept Health and Human Services) have both declared that GBH are probable
causes of NHL cancers.
https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-018-0184-7
This confusion over glyphosate dangers has caused serious misinterpretations over the safety
of glyphosate exposures since, in the United States, public agencies such as cities, counties
and schools follow the guidance and recommendations offered through the US EPA
regulations.
Over the last 2-3 years the volume of new knowledge about the serious public health and
environmental effects from GBH has skyrocketed and it has been difficult for the public, for
regulatory agencies, and manufacturers to keep up with the new information and its analyses.
Such confusions have a history involving other chemicals such as Agent Orange, PCBs,
Atrazine, thalidomide, human hormone replacement therapy, diethylstilbestrol (DSS) and
others. Confusion prevails and toxic chemicals remain in the market place.
We have recently learned from leading scientists from the United States and elsewhere that:
glyphosate is now widely accepted as a cause of blood cancers in humans, shortened
pregnancy lengths, possible endocrine disruption activities, birth defects, liver disease in
experimental animals, and causes breaks in DNA in laboratory studies that could lead to
cancers 2020. https://usrtk.org/pesticides/glyphosate-health-concerns/
Another paper very recently published links GBH exposures to two types of childhood acute
leukemia https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463919306212 (2020.
Prenatal pesticide exposure and childhood leukemia – A California statewide case-control
study.) Researchers discovered that use of any carcinogenic pesticides (including glyphosate)
used within 2.5 miles during a mother’s pregnancy increases the odds of the child developing
acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia nearly two-fold and three-fold.
We have also learned that “the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permits the use of
cancer-causing pesticides with an expectation that a certain number of cancers (anywhere
from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,000,000, based on the pesticide in question) and should be
considered ‘acceptable risk.’ (https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2020/03/
chemical-intensive-agriculture-increases-pregnant-mothers-risk-of-her-child-developingleukemia/)
When children are exposed to chemicals such as GBH while at school, it is mandatory that
common sense, progressive decisions prevail to avoid mistakes that will become apparent at
some time in the future. Or as I said in 2017, “the time for GBH-based herbicides is
over.” (https://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/archive/17456-the-time-for-glyphosate-basedherbicides-
is-over)
Many places have banned these weed killers throughout the world, including many
municipalities and public places, including the University of California campuses. https://
www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/where-is-glyphosatebanned/
Why will the Grants Pass School District use glyphosate?
Dr. Ramon Seidler, Ph.D. microbiologist, research scientist
Recipient of the 2020 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award
REFERENCES
Glyphosate and other pesticides linked with increased risk of childhood leukemia.
2020. Prenatal pesticide exposure and childhood leukemia – A California statewide casecontrol
study International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1438463919306212
https://beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/2020/03/chemical-intensive-agricultureincreases-
pregnant-mothers-risk-of-her-child-developing-leukemia/
2019. Can herbicides cause breast cancer? Purdue and INSERM scientists discover a piece to
the puzzle.
https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2019/Q3/can-herbicides-cause-breast-cancerpurdue-
and-inserm-scientists-discover-a-piece-to-the-puzzle..html
Glyphosate Fact Sheet:Cancer and Other Health Concerns 2020.
2019. How did the US EPA and IARC reach diametrically opposed conclusions on the
genotoxicity of glyphosate-based herbicides?
https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-018-0184-7
2020. Pets are at risk from glyphosate. https://www.gmoscience.org/
our_pets_at_risk_from_glyphosate/
2017. The time for glyphosate based herbicides is over. https://www.gmwatch.org/en/news/
archive/17456-the-time-for-glyphosate-based-herbicides-is-over
Common weed killer glyphosate increases cancer risk by 41%, study says, By Emily Dixon,
CNN, CNN Health, https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/us-glyphosate-cancer-study-scliintl/
index.html
Glyphosate Fact Sheet: Cancer and other Health Concerns. U.S. Right to Know. Jan. 15, 2019.
Where is Gyphosate Banned? The Law Firm of Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, and Goldman, PC,
Consumer Attorneys, https://www.baumhedlundlaw.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-rounduplawsuit/
where-is-glyphosate-banned