Dear Editor,

I am a mother concerned about health issues and I am writing to ask you to report on one of the most pressing issues of our community. Exposure to a very insidious herbicide called glyphosate herbicides, also known as Roundup and 700 + other brand names. You may have heard about it in the news recently - a historic verdict was announced a few weeks ago - 2 plaintiffs won $2 billion dollars when they sued the manufacturer of Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, for not properly labeling their product a carcinogen. The jury found the company guilty on all counts, including "malice and oppression" which means that the executives at Monsanto knew that the product could cause cancer and hid this information from the public.

Glyphosate herbicides are not just responsible for cancer. They have been proven to be neurotoxic, hormone disrupting, cause birth defects, miscarriages, and liver and kidney disease at very low levels of exposure. Monsanto and many chemical companies, retailers, landscapers, and food manufacturers have been hiding this information from the public for years. 

Eleven cities in the past week have banned glyphosate and many of our cities and school districts have stopped using glyphosate herbicides or prioritize organic alternatives instead. This does not, however, stop the exposure to our children when a neighbor sprays Roundup on their section of the sidewalk or driveway, and our pets, pregnant women, and children walk over the residues.

All of our cities and neighbors must stop using glyphosate herbicides and similarly harmful chemicals such as glufosinate, dicamba, 2,5-D and other synthetic chemical pesticides and herbicides.

Despite the fact that Costco has stopped carrying Roundup, Home Depot and Lowes still carry it. The manufacturer and retailers will keep selling it, unlabeled as a carcinogen and endocrine disruptor, and our neighbors will keep buying it and using it unless it is banned. This is why we must have the EPA revoke the license of glyphosate all together.

I am writing to ask that you please publish this letter and cover this issue. Ask your readers to comment to the EPA by July 6, 2019 and help protect our county and the nation from further increasing this health crisis we are facing now and in future generations.

Thank you.

Comment to EPA

https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361-2340

Zen Honeycutt

Founding Executive Director, Moms Across America

*All data and sources are found on www.momsacrossamerica.org/data