Monsanto’s GMO Weed Killer Sprayed On Fields Close To 12,000 Churches

Originally published in EWG’s AgMag Blog by By Mary Ellen Kustin.

Genetically engineered crops, commonly called “GMOs,” have led to an explosion in the use of toxic weed killers linked to cancer and other health problems – and people in America’s heartland are most at risk of exposure.

A new EWG analysis has identified nearly 12,000 churches within 1,000 feet of fields of GMO corn and soybeans that are sprayed with increasing amounts of the “probably carcinogenic” weed killer glyphosate, first marketed by Monsanto as “Roundup.” Five thousand churches are within a mere 200 feet of the herbicide-tolerant GMO crops.

In an earlier report EWG found that more than 3,000 elementary schools are located close to fields sprayed with glyphosate.

Starting this year, moreover, GMO corn and soybean fields in 15 states that are sprayed with glyphosate may also be doused in 2,4-D, a weed killer that scientists have linked to Parkinson’s disease, hypothyroidism and suppressed immune function. The World Health Organization recently classified 2,4-D as a possible carcinogen.

Read the full blog here.