New Study Suggests Roundup is Dangerous

Could a new study that questions the use of a commonly-used herbicide in weed control have implications for herbicide spraying along a stretch of railroad tracks in Haddam?

The Huffington Post recently ran an article regarding a new study that questions the health implications of the commonly used herbicide Roundup. The same chemical is used each year on the rail tracks in Haddam to control weed growth.

According to the Huffington Post piece, the group Earth Open Source, an organization “that uses open-source collaboration to advance sustainable food production,” released a study questioning the safety of America’s most popular herbicide, glyphosate, more commonly known as Roundup. The herbicide is one of the most popular used and is produced by chemical giant Monsanto.

The study, which reviewed existing data, suggests that "industry regulators in Europe have known for years that glyphosate, causes birth defects in the embryos of laboratory animals." This has led the organization to conclude that “the current approval of glyphosate and Roundup is deeply flawed and unreliable."

While the study also claims that the herbicide industry knew of the health effects of glyphosate, and although numerous studies before have found similar harmful impacts to be consistent with an exposure to the herbicide, the industry seems to be unmoved.

Monsanto responded to the study finding’s recently. On its blog, the company essentially dismissed the study as old news.

“Based on our initial review, the Earth Open Source report does not appear to contain any new health or toxicological evidence regarding glyphosate. Regulatory authorities and independent experts around the world agree that glyphosate does not cause adverse reproductive effects in adult animals or birth defects in offspring of these adults exposed to glyphosate, even at doses far higher than relevant environmental or occupational exposures.”

Last week a group of Haddam residents raised concerns over the use of Roundup in the annual spraying of railroad tracks in town and placed a series of phone calls and emails to public officials questioning the practice. In particular, they questioned why the spraying was being done along a long-unused section of the tracks and why neighbors were not warned about it.

They noted the recent passing of a neighbor who died of “an unexplained liver disease,” and who had walked along the tracks with her dog on a near daily basis. One resident, alarmed that the chemicals might come in contact with the ground water, said, “all our wells are on this side of the road, meaning very close to the tracks.”

Despite a 2003 recommendation by the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) to abandon the use of herbicides for less harmful weed control practices, Connecticut has allowed the continued use of herbicides by railroad officials.

Local residents Kenneth Gronbach and Ed Munster asked the state to look into the practice and whether the rail tracks even need to be sprayed, since they “haven’t been used in 40 years." The tracks are leased by the Essex-based Valley Railroad Company, but are owned by the federal government.

The state’s Council on Environmental Quality looked into the issue last year, but found no problem with the spraying, saying the herbicides the railroad uses are “common, well regulated and have short lives in the environment”.