Know what you’re spraying
Dear Editor:
This letter was inspired after reading Rosalee de la Foret’s recent letter to “Be chemical-free” in last week’s paper. Recently, I attended an Environmental Medicine conference where one of the presenters got a rock-star welcome. His claim to fame is that he was the key witness in the first lawsuit won against Monsanto for damages to humans caused by Roundup (a glyphosate pesticide available in any hardware or farm store).
Gilles-Eric Seralini, PhD, a French toxicologist, was the first (outside of Monsanto) to prove that glyphosate itself is not the strongest active ingredient in Roundup. Up to 60% of Roundup ingredients are “proprietary,” which means the ingredients are unlisted, theoretically to avoid copycat products. Scientists find that Roundup products are 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate alone, so what is in Roundup that makes it so powerful? The inactive ingredients are anything but non-toxic and make the product significantly more lethal (and in this case illegal) than the listed active ingredient of glyphosate. To be clear, glyphosate itself has been shown to cause many types of cancers, in particular lymphomas and leukemias. Monsanto is receiving new lawsuits daily from people who have suffered health consequences after use of their glyphosate products.
In the case of Roundup, the majority of unlisted ingredients was predominantly arsenic.
For those that are not aware, arsenic is an effective pesticide, but also a highly toxic heavy metal that was phased out of agricultural use by 2013 due to its known toxicity. Arsenic poisoning can cause: headache, confusion, diarrhea, heart disease, cancers, and be fatal at moderate doses. Roundup is also not the only pesticide found to have dangerous unlisted ingredients.
So, if you do decide you must spray, do you really know what you are spreading around your yard, watershed, community?
For more information, search consumer safety/roundup.
Beth DiDomenico, ND, Federal Way Naturopathy
Lack of credibility
Dear Editor:
This past weekend (May 4) I drove into Mazama and was greeted by a large sign which stated “Nobody is Above the Law.” Based on recent events in the other Washington I can only assume that this sign refers to the findings of the Mueller report. Not the fact that Mr. Mueller found no evidence of collusion with the Russians by the Trump campaign but the unfortunate statement by Mr. Mueller that his report did not clear Trump of “obstruction of justice.” Never mind that Mr. Mueller was not charged with investigating issues of obstruction of justice, he still felt the need to inflame political tensions with his statement.
Not too long ago there was a sign posted in Mazama that read “Sanctuary City, Everyone is Welcome Here.” I can only assume that this statement refers to illegal immigrants. I say illegal immigrants because there would be no need to grant sanctuary to legal immigrants.
So, am I to understand that the posters of the signs believe that “Nobody is Above the Law” only applies when the circumstances fall in line with their political beliefs and does not apply when they do not? No one is going to take your message seriously until you demonstrate some credibility.
John Okoneski, Wenatchee/Mazama
