Monthly Archives: May 2014

Calling all Canadians for joining up on Glyphosate testing

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Below scheme has now been cancelled. The original deal fell through as the lab involved stopped supporting the price point deal. However, a lot of labs in the US and Canada will test human urine and body fluids for glyphosate, using different methods and for different prices – ranging from around USD 100 upwards.

What is described here were batch processing deals of 40 samples at a time for average cost of under USD 30 per sample. That deal, unfortunately, has been cancelled.

You can find more information on who tests urine for glyphosate by googling it. If you need more information, you can send me an email at tony.mitra@gmail.com.

Worried about

  • Monsanto’s Roundup Herbicide getting in your drinking water?
  • If it has gotten in your body?
  • someone that is sick from Celiac, Crhon’s, Autism?
  • if breast milk of young mothers already have it?
  • if milk from dairy cows fed with GM cattle feed has Glyphosate?
  • If the bread you eat from the supermarket has Roundup in it?

Here is a chance to join up on a nationwide testing scheme.

People who have so far shown interest in representing their town, region, province etc towards a Canada wide Glyphosate testing scheme and might like to be a part of an exploratory conference call are :
Myself (Delta, BC)
Sheryl McCumsey (Edmonton, AB)
Brandie Nadiger-Harrop (Edmonton, AB)
Barbara Louise (Edmonton, AB)
Aleksandra Cupial-Crook (Lethbridge, AB)
Melissa Bodeleau (Cold Lake, AB)
Rob Bright (Toronto, ON)
Tina Jensen (London, ON)
Craig Weiss (Monstreal, QC)
Mike Eddy (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Rose Stevens (Winnipeg, MB)
Melissa Richardson (Holdfast, SK)
Zoe Swartz (US east coast)
Zen Honeycutt (CA, USA)
Mark Reed (East coast, USA)

  • The first conference call on this project is scheduled for 8 PM Atlantic, 4 PM Pacific time Tuesday, on June 3rd. Anyone not in the above list but wishing to get on board, should contact Rose Stevens or Brandie Harrop.

We are still missing, New Brunswick, PEI & Newfoundland and the territories up north. Looking for participants/ organizers from those provinces and areas.

Dear friends


Many Canadians have reached a conclusion that they do not want GMO and its associate pesticide in their environment, in their food and in their person.

They are no more interested to listen to politicians tap dance around the issue. They no more wish to get mired into an endless debate on the science of it. They do not trust the Government, and do not believe that the established science faculties will tell the truth. They have already concluded, perhaps justifiably, that the Government and the mainstream science establishments have come under an unholy control of corporations and aim to undermine Canada’s independence. Canada’s heritage, biological diversity, and national intellectual property over its flora and fauna, as well as food sovereignty, are all under attack of a patent holding regime of foreign corporations that are busy corrupting the political and academic foundations of our nation.

The question at hand is – how much of Glyphosate, the 900 pound gorilla of the food web, has gotten into our environment, and who is keeping a watch on it?

The answer is – nobody knows. The Government has set some limit on how much of it is acceptable in water without conducting any independent long term testing of what Glyphosate can do to living creatures. What is even worse, they seem to have no limits set on its concentration in human beings or other animals. There seem to be no lab in Canada among the CALA list of certified labs, that can test Glyphosate in human breast milk, or cow milk, or bread, or grain or much anything except for water and soil, and perhaps urine.
We have come to suspect that, contrary to Monsanto’s claims, Glyphosate seems to accumulate in humans and other animals, from the recent tests by Americans, where Glyphosate was noted in breast milk of nursing mothers. This suggests that unborn fetus as well as newborns are getting Glyphosate from their mother through umbilical chord and later through mother’s milk. Fetuses and newborns are particularly susceptible since they have not had time to develop a healthy growth of gut bacteria and an immunity that can resist attacks from antibiotics such as Glyphosate. We know diseases are rising to epidemic levels including in new borns and infants. Has Canada conducted independent study on how it affects pregnant animals or how it is right now affecting pregnant women? No it has not and is not.

So, bypassing the Government and its apparatus, we Canadians are getting ready to test our environment, our persons and our loved ones, tested for presence of Glyphosate. To that end, we have basically a few quotes and rates so far available. This list will get better as time passes. Meanwhile, here are the options available right now.

1) Anthony Samsel/ Stephanie Seneff – Cambridge, Massachusetts, $100
Dr. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff are offering tests on breast milk, water, urine, blood or milk products etc, for US$ 100 each. They will mail the sample kit, with the questionnaire to any address in Canada if they can receive a cheque for US$ 100. They are trying to set up a better system where by one can make a payment with credit card or paypal etc. They will get it tested by a certified lab and reports emailed back.

Two young nursing mothers in PEI have already decided to be the first through the door, getting their breast milk tested in the US. The results will be emailed to them. We hope to get a copy. These two women are careful with their food, and only eat organic. Nonetheless their results would be a good datum.

I encourage others to also join up. This seems to be, for now, the best bet for breast milk, cow milk, and such. We are ready to collect more samples. I am ready to send my own urine, or my tap water, and I shall pay for at least one more person that is perhaps suffering from Glyphosate poisoning, and cannot pay for the test.

2) Bulk analysis, under US$ 25 ea, batch of 96
For things other than milk, such as water, and urine, blood etc, there are other labs, who can do it in batches of 96. The total package including testing would cost about US$ 15.26 plus postage for shipping the samples to the lab. They would need 6 weeks for the results. The labs that do the testing with be certified for general work, may not be accredited for Glyphosate testing. The results are supposed to be good for indication even if they may or may not hold up in court. This way one can get a lot more bang for the buck and perhaps get more tests under the belt, and later decide if specific samples or areas or people need to be subjected to more rigorous and therefore more costly, testing.

I am considering sending sample of the same source to both alternatives – such as my urine to both 1) and 2) just to see if the results are identical or if there is a difference.

Those that need even higher accuracy and willing to pay even higher cost, but only available for water or soil, can pay between US$ 200 and 300 and do it in some Canadian labs. For now, we are not focusing on these labs, for the citizen’s testing.

Perhaps having a conference call, with one or two from each province, on Skype, would be a good idea, to air out the issues and see what we should do.

I think we should pursue a two pronged approach. Testing breast milk, as well as milk from cows that are fed GM feed, would raise the issue of how much of our food is contaminated and to what extent. It would also prove, in the case of both the cow and the nursing mothers, that Glyphosate does bio-accumulate, and can trigger a series of illnesses in new borns and grown ups, for which there has been no independent study.

Same time, testing our tap water, ground water, bread, cake, Canola, sugar etc at US$16 a test should cover a lot of ground for us. We shall need volunteers that can put all this into a database and put up results on line for us and for Canada to check where we stand. We can hope to shame the Govt, or if it proves to be shameless, then force the Govt, to act.

Alex AtamanenkoIn another important development, MP Mr. Alex Atamanenko spoke with me yesterday and wishes to take these issues up directly with the Minister of Health from his end as well.

I am up for suggestions. What does everybody think ? Anybody interested, can give us a shout, in Facebook, or by email.

People interested to join up in the Glyphosate testing drive may write directly to: glyphosate.testing@gmail.com

Cheers
Tony Mitra

tony.mitra@gmail.com

MP Alex Atamanenko lends a word of support – on Glyphosate testing

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Since we concluded the eastern tour of the Maritime provinces, a number of new issues have come up, some of it with some involvement from my end as well. Here I shall cover one aspect of it – testing mammalian body fluids, such as human urine, blood or mothers breast milk, as well as cow milk, and perhaps even grain or bread etc, for presence of Glyphosate – the active poison in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide.

What I learned in the process is that the dozen or so labs in Canada that have the accreditation for testing for Glyphosate, none seem prepared to test its presence in any sample except water and soil. Urine, blood or milk from nursing mothers or cows cannot be tested. I told him of me being puzzled and wondering if Health Canada at all has imposed any acceptable limit of concentration of Glyphosate in humans, and if they do – what is that limit. More importantly, how do they test it if no lab in Canada can do that? If on the other hand, Health Canada has not set any limit of concentration in humans, and in effect considers any level of accumulation is fine – then why set a limit for potable water in the first place ?

What exactly is Health Canada’s position on accumulation of Glyphosate in humans and other animals?

I told him about the general conception that, if Glyphosate can bio-accumulate in the body, then its acceptable limit in environment should be way less than it is now. Presence of it in mothers breast milk in USA is already raising questions these questions across the border. I told him how most experts will agree that fetuses in the womb are more vulnerable to harmful molecules since they have not yet developed enough resistance to disease from what they eat, which is why an affected mother, if she can pass Glyphosate to the fetus, may pose a higher risk of harming the baby.

Mr. Atamanenko lent his support to getting the tests done across the border in USA, if no Canadian lab can do it. Further, he wished me to send a short note on the question my suspicion that Health Canada might not have imposed any limit to accumulation of Glyphosate in human beings, and worry that this is dangerous to health of Canadian people as well as the animal kingdom. Mr. Atamanenko wishes to push this issue directly to the minister of health.

You can listen to the 5 minute podcast of which just over two minutes are from Mr. Atamanenko.

Meanwhile, I received this note of relevance from Dr. Anthony Samsel himself, from Cambridge, Massachusetts:

Hi Tony,

All who consume food containing glyphosate residues, be they man or beast will have glyphosate residues circulating in their blood and bioaccumulating in their tissues.  Glyphosate bioaccumulates in the milk of all mammals and can also be found attached to the fatty acids of cerebrospinal fluid.  Contrary to Monsanto’s claims that glyphosate is metabolized and passed out of the body harmlessly in the urine and feces, some does bioaccumulate.

Glyphosate also attaches to muscle tissue which includes the heart and it has been found in the pancreas, liver and kidneys.  Glyphosate is passed up and through the food chain.  What affects one species, will affect all species exposed; there is no free lunch.  Glyphosate is an equal opportunity offender.

You may quote me

Anthony

So there you have it folks.
I shall be happy to have your feedback at tony.mitra@gmail.com

 

 

March Against Monsanto, Vancouver, May 2014 – Canada under GMO attack

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The March Against Monsanto itself has been evolving the world over. In Vancouver, the march started from its usual location – Vancouver Art Gallery and ended back there. This time there were six speakers before the march and then there were a singer and a closing speaker at the end of the March.

My wife and later myself filmed most of the speakers, including myself, before the march.

Although I have some video clips of the march itself, I have not had the time to stitch them into a meaningful collage.

Here, I am putting up the clips of the speakers prior to the commencement of the march, all linked to U-Tube, all filmed by me or Anuradha.

The task at hand now is to organize ourselves for some of the immediate work – such as handling the Glyphosate testing issue – or to ascertain what other chemical one should test against.

There may also be a need to put all the analyzed data into some sort of a database, to make sense of later on. I am willing to do it initially, but not using any database software (don’t have the time), but perhaps into a giant spreadsheet, or worksheet.

We may need to form a volunteer group that are willing to work on this. A lot of folks showed interest in doing so at the Vancouver Art Gallery where I broached the subject. We do not have a group specific email list, or a separate FB page or other platforms where this can be stored, viewed, discussed, explained or advertised. All that might need to happen.

Perhaps there is a need for airing out views on this on a few conference calls. People with Skype account comes first to mind. Google hangout is another possibility. I do not have a conference call facility with my telephone provider, nor a subscription to specific conference call service providers, which usually involve a monthly paid subscription. Anyhow, these are issues worth thinking through.

Then there is also the question of what to test, how to test, and who should monitor the process, as well as bulk pricing against individual pricing.

Dr. Anthony Samsel and Dr. Stephanie Seneff have reportedly offered a service for the people of PEI, Canada, for a pilot study on a small group of target people for long term study of adverse effect on people through exposure of Glyphosate. I am not certain at this point if the study will include exposure to other biocides. PEI is an interesting case. It is a relatively isolated island with a small population, and heavily burdened with biocides, both in the past and at present. However, Glyphosate may not be the most used poison there. 82% of the current biocide load appears to come from a fungicide used on the potato fields.

The product most used as a desiccant on the potato fields in PEI is reportedly Syngenta’s Reglone, with uses the active ingredient diquat, as a contact killer through cell membrane disruption and photosynthesis inhibition.

I know some dairy farmers in PEI cannot grow their own cattle feed and purchase it from special cattle feed producers, who may be growing or using GM corn and soy for this purpose. Therefore, Glyphosate is likely to be in the diet of these dairy cattle, and could therefore me present in the milk. This of course is not typical of just PEI, but across Canada, and opens an opportunity for independent citizen’s action groups having dairy milk tested for glyphosate from select areas. I know the Dairy farmers in the Comox Valley in Vancouver Island are using this method.

Interstingly, Syngenta’s Reglone, with its diquat, is used by the Canadian Govt on surface water reservoirs used for drinking throughout the Canadian prairie, and possibly elsewhere.

What is even more interesting, or disquieting, is a report I have read, by Hans Peterson, Senior Research Scientist, Saskatchewan Research Council, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – that says “average treatment concentration of diquat is around 1,000 ug per litre of dugout water. The Canadian Drinking Water Guideline for diquat is 70 ug per litre. The federal government restricts consumption of diquat treated water for 24 hours. It is, however, likely that a treatment concentration of 1000 ug per litre has not decreased to 70 ug per litre 24 hours after treatment.”

I further learned from Hans Peterson’s report that the US EPA, no saint themselves, allow only 10 ug/litre and do not allow it to be consumed before 14 days have passed.

The European Union, apparently, allow only 0.1 ug/l.

I am as a result looking for a chance to speak with Hans Peterson, but do not know his contact details, or if he likes to be contacted on this issue. I would appreciate if anyone can trace him or help me contact him on this issue. I intend to learn a bit more about this desiccant that is also used on drinking water across Canada.

Then there is the issue of wood preservatives in British Columbia. I shall get to it later on. For now, this is a quick note from me, on issues that are before us, in Canada as well as Globally. Since our Government is not showing sufficient concern and not conducting wide ranging tests on how much of these man made poisons are entering into our ecology and our persons, the task it left for the people to handle.

I have no doubt in my mind that GMO and pesticides are not just a health hazard, but are part of a design to undermine Canada’s very independence and democratic underpinnings, and convert it into a colony to be made profit from, by a handful of corporations. I have no doubt in my mind that the solution will have to come through political action of the people, and not through polite academic debates on policy. There is also mounting evidence that science is now censored and there is little freedom of press left. The media is not as much corporate controlled as is education.

So, the citizens need to take back control of the political process. Sooner or later, something has to give, because the current trend is only heading towards a cliff.

Here are the MAM Vancouver speakers videos:

1. Kenneth Young

[youtube N7t7K5e3XP0]

 2. Tony Mitra

[youtube dOADhM-Ennw]

Another – Official version

[youtube ArURGIx_x3c]

3. Teresa Lynne

[youtube UJqIQ10JL70]

4. Daniel Bissonnette

[youtube mGhRuO0JMzY]

5. Harold Steves

[youtube XVHaBaZJVXw]

6. Lili Dion

[youtube cQ-ODb–AA8]

Letter to Scott Hamilton, MLA, Delta North, BC

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To MLA Scott Hamilton, North Delta
cc: Jennifer Newman, Constituency Assistant to Minister Steve Thomson, BC Govt.
cc: Ministry of forestry, BC Govt.
cc: MLA Vicky Huntington, South Delta
Scott Hamilton
Subject: Request for data on Pesticide use in BC wood processing industry,

Dear Honorable MLA Hamilton

Good day,

I am an engineer, a citizen journalist, a blogger (www.tonu.org), a podcaster, a videographer and a food security activist.

You are my representative in the legislative assembly of British Columbia, and I have been asked by the secretary of the Minister of Forestry, Mr. Steve Thomson, to approach you with my request. For reference I include an email sent to the honourable Minister Steve Thomson.

We, the citizens of Canada and residents of BC, are concerned about the rising pesticide load on the agricultural land, the forests and the aquatic ecosystem of the province, and wished to check how far the local Government has actually performed independent testing for presence of any potentially harmful substance in our environment that could be attributed to industrial activity.

While this effort is still ongoing, people are getting ready to conduct their own tests, thus bypassing the political process if need be, to find out if harmful contaminants have entered their neighbourhood.

From documents released by Environment Canada, I tried to use the information on latest records of pesticide use in different provinces, and by dividing that with area and population of each province, tried to get a per capita and per unit area pesticide load in a table. I include this table for your reference.

We note from the Environment Canada document, that a high percentage of pesticide use in BC is on wood preservatives, presumably due to concentration of lumber processing plants.

We would therefore like to know what kind of wood preservatives have been used in the past and being use now. Specifically, we are looking for figures, in Kg of toxic metals such as chromium, copper, tin or arsenic.

Further, we wished to know if Tributiltin (TBT) had been or is being used as wood preservative in the province and the Kg amount that may have been used so far.

All these are toxic and harmful to human health. Many of these items are now banned from industrial use in various parts of the world. TBT for example, has been banned from Marine use, where earlier it was used as anti-fouling paint on ships underwater hull, to prevent encrustation of barnacles. This was killing marine lifeforms and is now banned.

Based on information thus received, it is the wish of the people, to engage in conducting tests of the ground water, soil, and human and animal body fluids for the presence of these materials.

Ideally, such tests should have been conducted by the health and/or environment ministry, and not left to the industry which may have a vested and conflict of interest in such tests.

In absence of such tests performed by the BC Government, we plan to do it ourselves.

Meanwhile, we request information, from the Government and through you, on :

  1. A year upon year breakdown of the amount (by weight) of which kind of pesticide has been sold and used in the province.
  2. Specific types of wood preservatives that have been and are being used in the wood processing industry in BC and in which areas these are concentrated.
  3. Has the Govt of BC conducted independent study of presence of toxic chemicals or elements used by the industry, in the environment where they could harm the living planet including humans and livestock? If “yes” I would request for copies of these reports for public consumption.

Since I am part of a large body of grassroots organizers and since many of them are involved in this effort, and since this is a transparent above board effort of the people, this email may be put up on line or circulated for information.
In the coming March Against Monsanto event this May 24th in Vancouver, where thousands are expected to gather, I have been asked to address the people, and would have liked to mention a few elected officials that are working for us in finding the information thus requested.

I would have preferred to get encouraging feedback from the elected politicians, and thus would have mentioned them at the rally. Unfortunately, we have not received a single response from any elected official at the provincial level, although a number of elected Councillors have shown support for the effort, and a few MPs are also considering it.

I would therefore appreciate if you could assist us in finding the right answers to the pesticide distribution in BC, and help reduce cost of endless tests to find out what is more prevalent where. I would be glad to speak with you on phone on this, and pay you a visit should you so prefer. I would also like to take your name, in case you offer help and if you allow, in the march against Monsanto, as an example of an elected MLA that is helping us find further information on this very important issue.

Hoping for a positive response
With much regards
Tony Mitra
10891 Cherry Lane, Delta, BC, V4E 3L7, Canada
tony.mitra@gmail.com

Prince Edward Island, Chloropicrin and Dr. Anthony Samsel

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Malcolm Joseph Pitre of Prince Edward Island asked for information that might help him resist the PEI provincial Government’s plan to introduce Chloropicrin for soil sterilization for a fruit farm, presumably strawberry.

Chloropicrin 100 - MSDS

I tried contacting Dr. Don Huber, professor emeritus, Purdue University. But he was not around. So I called Anthony Samsel of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Samsel knew Cholopicrin and told me much about it, which I recorded for listeners here.

Chloropicrin was a chemical warfare agent in the first World War, was stored in WW II, but is now banned, I believe, from military use – but is still used in Agriculture, for example as a soil fumigant. CDC identifies this chemical as a Lung Damaging Agent.

It is hazardous, a killer. Some of it would evaporate out of the soil after use. This gas is heavier than air and would stay close to the ground. The safety warnings say people should stay away from it. As Sr. Samsel said, non-toxic methods are less harmful and should be the first choice – such as steam sterilization methods. These technologies exist, and units are available that can be hauled as a trailer to site. A few samples are given here.

There are quite a few examples of steam soil sterilizers out there if one googles it. There may be someone within PEI that can source one locally or from within the maritime provinces. There are many documents freely available on line that give examples of how to use Steam, or even solar power to organically sterilize a patch of soil before planting. If needed, I wonder if Av Singh of Nova Scotia might help locate one, or offer advise on another non-toxic method of doing the same job.

As to calculating the pesticide load, I first picked the data off Environment Canada’s document on pesticide use in PEI as well as other provinces. Then I checked the area and the population, to create a table of per capita and per unit area, the average pesticide use for each province. PEI stands out in contrast because of the high pesticide load, which is ten times higher per capita and up to 17 times higher per unit area, compared to its neighbour Nova Scotia. It also appears to be way higher that any other region in Canada.

I would not be surprised if reported cases show higher occurrence of some disease, such as Cancer,Crohn’s disease, Celiac, Autism, obesity, and other illnesses were higher per unit population than elsewhere in Canada. However, I do not have the data, and it would be important to get the information on this. I did write a letter( emails ) to the Government of PEI, but received no response. I have not checked thoroughly for the PEI government information online, and would encourage local residents to try to locate or ask for information on annual reported cases of these illnesses and then see how they measure up against the rest of Canada and the rest of the western world.

After all, PEI is part of Canada and Canada is not exactly a third world country – or is it?

Gutsy Walk for Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, for example, says in its web site:
“Canada has one of the highest rates for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world and those rates are increasing. Most alarming, the number of new cases of Crohn’s disease in Canadian children has almost doubled since 1995. Crohn’s and colitis are lifelong diseases that can have a devastating impact on quality of life, elevate the risk of colorectal cancer, and in the case of Crohn’s disease, shorten life expectancy“.

Sustainable Pulse, for example, has an article about the link between Monsanto’s Roundup and Global Bloom of Celiac disease and Gluten intolerance.

There are more things in the pipeline for Prince Edward Island, the maritime Provinces and the rest of Canada. One of them is about testing of Glyphosate in body fluids such as blood, urine, breast milk and also soil samples.

Dr. Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff have gotten engaged in providing a service that includes scientific analysis of the data, and on a more professional level. This service is provided to the right candidates in Canada. The right candidates would be those that are already sick from exposure, and those that are suspect due to living close to areas with heavy pesticide use, or are not so careful with what they eat. Nursing mothers with babies are preferred if they are suspect, since they can provide multiple samples, that could prove bio-accumulation of the material.

The cost of each test is US$ 100, to be paid ahead of the tests. Should a deserving candidate cannot afford to pay for the test, Drs. Samsel and Seneff will try to cover it out of their own pocket.

From our end, we need to identify the right candidates, and if they cannot afford the test, we should consider raising funds to help out, and not tax Dr. Samsel and Dr. Seneff far as possible.

More on all this later. This part of the talk (testing for Glyphosate) is not included in the podcast and will be covered with more detail down the line.


For now, you can click on the play button and listen to the 10 minute podcast of Dr. Samsel about a cleaner method for soil sterilization that Chloropicrin – for residents of PEI.

I shall be most happy to hear your comments to: tony.mitra@gmail.com

Thanks/ Tony

Canadians testing if Glyphosate accumulates in the body

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While speaking with Dr. Don Huber and Dr. Anthony Samsel about GMO and Glyphosate, I came to learn of Moms Across America group, lead by Zen Honeycutt, and their efforts to have presence of Glyphosate tested in volunteers urine and breast milk.

While this was going on, there were fledgeling groups of people across Canada that were getting ready to have their water, and body fluids tested for presence of pesticides, including Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer trade named ‘Roundup’.

I ended up asking a few labs for quotation for testing for pesticides. The labs approached were :

I had asked them to quote for testing for the following products:

  • Glyphosate
  • AMPA
  • Mancozeb
  • 2,4-D,
  • Bacillus theuringiensis H-14
  • MCPA

Gamma Dynacare cannot do it now. LLSG tests for trace elements, but not molecules such as pesticide. That leaves only Maxxam Analytics for now who will offer a quote for Glyphosate around next Tuesday. Brody Mossman of Maxxam lead me to the Nova Socita site for pesticide tolerance limits. You can find it here. I am also including parts of their tabulated chart with limits for Glyphosate here:

Glyphosate limit in soil - just under 1 ppm in fine and 1.4 in course

As you can see, the limits to ground (potable) water allowed is (at 280 ppb) is almost five times higher than allowed in surface water (65 ppb). Is that good ? We intend to ask around.

Meanwhile, Moms Across America used a lab called Microbe Inotech Labrotories (MIL) in St Lois, MO. I spoke with them too. They can do it, and are preparing a quote.

In order to popularize the effort and get more volunteers to come forward, I spoke with Rose Stevens of Manitoba to make a video and an audio podcast.

While all this was going on, I got linked with Henry Rowlings of Sustainable Pulse, who spoke about the Global GMO Free Coalition (GGFC) which is going to be announced on Tuesday (4 days from now). And now I know that it may be better, to find double samples from the same person, urine and breast milk from a nursing mother. Even better may be three samples, including urine from the baby, to see if:

  • Glyphosate can bio-accumulate, and get from being in the gut and urine, into breast milk
  • and if that Glyphosate can then establish itself into babies, who are inherently more vulnerable than grown ups.

Also, it may be an idea to take sample from people that have not been careful of where they get their food from.

All this is happening as we speak. Meanwhile, here is the talk between myself and Rose Stevens, to help kickstart the awareness drive on this issue.

[youtube kfpzLbdFtQs]

You can also listen to the audio podcast by clicking on the player below, or download and listen at leisure.

Hope you like it. You can send me your comments at tony.mitra@gmail.com

Letter to Mayor Jackson, Delta, BC, about testing for Glyphosate

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To: Ms Lois E. Jackson, Mayor, Delta, BC, mayor@delta.ca

Dated : Thursday, May 15, 2014

Mayor Jackson

Subject: Canadians arranging to test their urine and water for presence of Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer – requesting your moral support

Dear Mayor Jackson,

Good day.

We are a group of concerned Canadians from Delta, BC, and across the land all the way to the east coast of Canada, that are arranging to have our waters, urine, blood and mothers breast milk tested by ourselves, for presence of Monsanto’s week killer Roundup. This is in recognition of fact that a rising tide of serious illness in north America may be linked to an ever increasing release of Glyphosate as a weed killer, as an agricultural desiccant, and an antibiotic, on our agricultural fields as well as out forests and watersheds.

We are in discussion with labs in Canada and the US for suitable bulk quote for such a test and building of data base on the spread of this week killer in human blood, organs and tissues across Canada. There are claims made by Monsanto and other producers of Glyphosate in herbicides that identify this chemical as harmless to animals and only affects plants, and any ingestion is promptly flushed out by humans without accumulation in our body and without causing any harm. As a result EPA has raised the presence of Glyphosate to be considered safe for food to a level several thousand times higher than that in Europe. It has recently been proven by tests conducted on human urine, blood and mothers breast milk, that the claim of safety for humans in false, that it bio-accumulates and crosses several safety boundaries to be able to enter blood and breast milk. Further, it has been established by independent scientists  that the item wrecks havoc with our micro-biome which is responsible for producing a lot of our enzymes, vitamins and other essential bio-chemicals which makes it possible for us to function properly.

I personally know and speak with many such scientists, and will provide references to two conversations, one with Dr. Anthony Samsel (http://www.tonu.org/2014/05/14/samsel/) and another with Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT (http://www.tonu.org/2014/04/19/stephanie-seneff/) about the harmful effects of Glyphosate. These scientists have been studying Glyphosate for years.

You probably know that an organization in the US, named Moms Across America (MAA) have already started doing such tests by themselves, and some shocking results are coming up, including presence of this toxin in their mothers milk.

So, grassroots groups are joining up across Canada, to arrange for similar testing of human body fluids as well as ground water, for presence of Glyphosate, at their own cost. I am part of it, and am writing to find out if this effort may have your moral support. All we intend to do is find out if the weedkiller is already accumulating in our bodies, and then let the chips fall as they may.

Ideally, such a test should have been conducted by Health Canada, or Environment Canada, or corresponding ministries within individual provinces, or departments of Environment within Municipalities. However, since the Govt has taken no initiative to investigate this potentially huge health risk, citizens are arranging to take initiative in their own hands, bypassing the political establishment.

I write this to you, asking if you might like to lend your support to this effort. We do not seek financial support, nor do we seek your organizational or campaigning support. We simply ask if you are willing to publicly come out in support of this grassroots movement, by lending a few words of encouragement in writing that we can use, or to have your voice recorded and added in future audio podcasts, which will be made to cover this issue.

You are the fourth elected official I write this to, and the first one from a Municipality. I wrote a letter to MP Alex Atamanenko of NDP yesterday after speaking with his legal assistant team. I also wrote two other personalized letters earlier today, to South & North Delta MLAs Ms Vicky Huntington and Scott Hamilton. For now, I am not planning on writing to any more elected politicians. However, this being a transparent grassroots organization that exchanges views with others, I may inform of my effort to reach your office as a sample for others across Canada to consider doing the same in their own areas.

There is a high level of interest by people across Canada. We know about this interest since I am part of a team that have been touring the length and breadth of Canada speaking to folks on invitation, on the potential harm of GMO and pesticides in agriculture and environment on one side, and the need for citizens to take initiative without waiting for politicians on the other side, and have now links with groupings from the east coast of Canada to the west coast, and have a huge number of volunteers ready to send samples for testing, at their own cost. Thats how we know.

I would appreciate your feedback if you consider this effort worth providing your moral support, or not. Absence of any response would be taken as either your disagreement that such a test should at all be conducted to check if Roundup weed killer is accumulating in our bodies, or that you find this movement politically unacceptable in your point of view.

Should you be interested to meet me and a few like minded citizens face to face, I shall be most glad to pay you a visit.

Hoping for a positive response,

With best wishes

Tony Mitra

10891 Cherry Lane, Delta, BC, V4E3L7, Canada

tony.mitra@gmail.com, www.tonu.org 604-649 7535

Anthony Samsel blasts GMO-Technology and the one gene one enzyme hyphotheses

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I have had the pleasure of speaking with three scientists in USA recently that have done work on GMO or Glyphosate and how they are likely the primary or an important ingredient in our runaway rise in chronic diseases. These are Dr. Don Huber, Dr. Anthony Samsel and Dr. Stephanie Seneff.

I have already created audio podcast of my talks with Dr. Huber (http://www.tonu.org/2014/04/15/don_hube/) and Dr. Seneff (http://www.tonu.org/2014/04/19/stephanie-seneff/). I am yet to create a full audio podcast of my talks with Dr. Samsel, primarily because of some recording glitch where the quality of sound was not the best and I was having a hard time trying to clean it up through editing. Perhaps I shall have to request him for a fresh talk again.

Meanwhile, I did manage to extract two short sections of the talk, and create short video clips of them. One is about Golden Rice and vitamin deficiency (http://www.tonu.org/2014/04/21/goldenrice-debunked/), where Dr. Samsel illustrates why Golden rice is unnecessary, and untested. More than that, if one wishes to improve vitamin intake of poor kids in third world countries, the first step should be to remove Glyphosate from their diet. Thats because Glyphosate inhibits people’s micro-biome from creating vitamins using the raw materials in their food. SO, removing Glyphosate would automatically improve a boy’s ability to have more vitamins from his regular food.

I was meanwhile on a trip to the maritime provinces of Canada, on the Atlantic coast, and four hours time difference away from British Columbia. I was there with Dr. Thierry Vrain, mostly networking. Dr. Vrain spoke about the bad science behind GMO and worse science behind Glyphosate and how important it was to keep them away from one’s dinner table. I spoke of how the people of Canada needed to get mad, get even, and wrench back control of the political process from the clutches of big money and a handful of corrupt and toxic corporations.

After returning home, I got to working with the audio file of me speaking with Dr. Samsel, and managed to extract another 8 minute of exchange about the issue of GMO technology itself – if taking a single gene from one organism and inserting into another organism can work in theory, given our current knowledge of how genome works. Isn’t there collateral damage and unexpected outcome that we are not even looking or testing for? Further, what happens when Glyphosate is allowed to mix into this brew?

Dr. Samsel had been more than clear, forthright and easy to understand on these issues. I was happy to learn that Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of UK was had recently written in an article, crediting Dr. Samsel and Dr. Seneff for proving that the one gene one enzyme hypothesis is false. Not only can disruption of one original gene and replacing it with something else cause unexpected damage, it can lead to a cascading series of problems and effects, and often does.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the video clip, 8 minutes long, where Dr. Samsel again blasts the idea that one could pick a gene from a dinosaur, stick it into a mesosaur and hope to create a functioning GMOsaur. GMOs in short, are a scientific humbug, and a devastating attack on the natural world, and our food security.

I also included a quote from Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America, that i stumbled upon recently, and liked very much. My thanks to go Zen for a different reason, and relates to her group having samples tested for Glyphosate, which is something a few of us in Canada are also planning to do.

I hope you shall like the two short videos. I apologize for not being able to create a full length half hour audio podcast with him yet. But I am not giving up. I intend to ask him again, shortly, for indulging me.

You are most welcome to send me your comments or suggestions by email. One could also write directly on the blog, but one would first need to log in  there or create an account, which may be a bit of a hassle.

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The talk with Dr. Samsel is also available as an audio podcast for those that wish to listen in or save, linked below.

I shall be glad to hear your comments, sent to tony.mitra@gmail.com

Thanking you

Tony Mitra

Pesticide use in BC Forestry, and a request for a talk/podcast

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To: MLA: Hon. Steve Thomson

Kelowna-Mission

Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations,

E-mail: steve.thomson.mla@leg.bc.ca

Dear Honourable Minister Thomson,

Subject: Pesticide use in BC Forestry, and a request for a talk/podcast

Good day sir,

 

I am a citizen of Canada, a resident of British Columbia, a retired Marine Enigineer, a citizen journalist, blogger, podcaster and videographer. I have been concerned and engaged with sustainable agriculture issues, food security and environment protection. I often talk with to people around the world, scientists, policy analysts, activists, NGO, politicians etc, on record, to put up audio podcasts for public awareness on issues related to GMO, pesticides, and environmental degradation.

My blog site that covers it all is at : www.tonu.org

 

I write to you with specific questions with regard to use of pesticides in BC forests. Reference is made to the Government publication from Environment Canada, named “PRESENCE AND LEVELS OF PRIORITY PESTICIDES IN SELECTED CANADIAN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS”, dated March 2011, which describes the pesticide load for British Columbia as:

 

QUOTE

In 2003, pesticide sales in British Columbia totalled 4,666,709 kg of active ingredients. The majority of pesticides were sold and used in the forestry sector, with anti-microbial products (e.g., wood preservatives) accounting for 71.7% of total sales. Of the remaining 28.3%, sales were distributed among insecticides (8.8%), fungicides (6.5%), herbicides (6.1%) and other pesticides (6.9%) (Brimble et al., 2005). Twenty of the 287 active ingredients registered for use in British Columbia accounted for 93% of sales. Ten pesticide active ingredients were used exclusively in the agriculture sector and accounted for 63% of total sales. They were insecticidal and herbicidal mineral oils; the herbicide glyphosate; the fungicides sulphur, mancozeb, chlorothalonil and captan; the insecticides diazinon and Bacillus thuringiensis, as well as the fumigants metam and methyl bromide (Brimble et al., 2005). Between 1991 and 2003, four active ingredients were consistently reported among the highest sales volumes: mineral oil (insecticidal or adjuvant), glyphosate (herbicide), sulphur (fungicide) and mancozeb (fungicide) (Brimble et al., 2005). In British Columbia, the Lower Fraser Valley and Okanagan Basin account for 46% and 44% respectively of the agricultural and domestic-use pesticides sold in British Columbia (ENKON Environmental Ltd., 2005).

UNQUOTE

 

We find the case for British Columbia, as described above, quite unique in Canada, as no other province seems to have wood preservative in forestry listed as the most used pesticide.

We are aware of citizen groups that are organizing right now to get their waters, as well as urine, blood and breast milks tested for presence of pesticides, following the trend started by the Mothers Across America group in the US. I have personally been also following this issue, and am involved with some talking tours across Canada, on what the science is telling, or not telling, and what a citizen of Canada could do to protect his/her health and that of their children, from accidental unwanted exposure to carcinogens.

We are also aware of the efforts of environment groups such as David Suzuki Foundation and Eco-Justice etc to challenge Health Canada to reconsider continued approval of dangerous chemicals as pesticides without independent testing, whereas the same chemicals may be banned elsewhere, where they did conduct such testing and found them to pose a health hazard.

In this regard, I request you to :

  1. Provide information on the breakdown of this “wood preservative”. What does it consist of? How does it preserve wood from attack from insects or bacteria? Who has tested if this is harmful to humans of the environment? Does it accumulate in the soil, water, or animal tissue? etc etc. If your office can furnish these data, or point us to the party that can, then people can decide if and what they wish to test for, in case they intend to check if and how much this wood preservative might be a matter of concern. Further, some of us are invited to speak at medical and gastronomic conferences, where such item is likely to be on the agenda, and any information your govt can provide would help.
  2. Provide, and find us the party that can, a year upon year breakdown of how much of which kind of biocide has been used in BC, in forestry, as well as in agriculture, public and residential properties.
  3. Comment on why BC has such a high percentage use of wood preservative, unlike any other province, and what the BC Govt might be doing to test their ground water, streams, wells and waterways, to see if ingredients of this wood preservative is not accumulating in the environment. Has anybody been testing the effect of this item in the environment? If “yes” is the investigation team outside of financial or other control of the industry that benefits from its use, and outside of control of the Government, where a scientist can be silenced, or fired, should his findings do not match Govt views for whatever reason?
  4. Is your Govt in touch with ENKON Environmental Limited (mentioned in the quoted text from Environment Canada), and can you help connect us with the right party there for more information on pesticide use in BC?

In order to keep the public aware and raise awareness, I might publish this letter, for all to see, either in my blog, or Facebook, or twitter etc.

I shall be obliged to receive your response. Should you, or anyone representing the Govt is willing to speak with me on record on this issue, I shall be happy to listen and, if agreeable, record the conversation for creation of another audio podcast. If I receive a written response, I may then put that up for people as well.

Should you want to meet me face to face, I shall be happy to pay you a visit.

Either way, I request your Govt to furnish the information thus asked, which I believe may be the right of a citizen to know and the obligation of a Government to provide.

 

Hoping to get a quick response.

With best regards

 

Tony Mitra

10891 Cherry lane, Delta, BC, V4E3L7, Canada

604-649 7535, tony.mitra@gmail.com, www.tonu.org

Canada and pesticides – a letter to the Health Minister

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To: Honourable Rona Ambrose rona.ambrose@parl.gc.ca

Minister of Health

Canada

Dated: Friday, May 9, 2014

Hon. Rona Ambrose

Subject: Canada’s continued approval of Pesticides that may be harmful – and a request for a talk for a podcast.

Dear Honourable Minister Amrbose,

I am a retired Marine Engineer and a citizen journalist, blogger, podcaster and a videographer that has been involved with food security and seed independence issues and their relevance to Canadian sovereignty and sustainability.

I write this to request you, or your representative, to consider speaking with me, preferably on record, to cover the issue of the Canadian Govt’s continued acceptance of potentially harmful chemicals that are banned elsewhere.

I have been speaking with and meeting relevant people across the planet that are involved in some way or another to raise awareness, or act, to protect both the environment and the food web for the world population. This act sometimes comes in conflict with the efforts of some corporations that wish to maximize profit through agriculture models that allow promotion of mono-culture crops as well as a monopoly hold on the food business through patented technology.

I write to you with regard to the Neonicotinoid pesticides and their possible link with the collapse of the bee populations, both honey bees and other bees, that are instrumental not just in honey gathering, but in pollination of plants. Apart from bees, the neonicotinoids may be involved with the death of many other kids of insects that are outside of our radar right now, but are part of the planet biomass and therefore important ingredients of our environment.

One of the key scientists that actually conducted field tests, not lab tests in artificial conditions, of effects of Neonicotinoid pesticides in bumble bees in Europe is Dr. Dave Goulson of UK. His research papers so rattled the EU government that it triggered a ban of these pesticides for at least two years, while more substantive tests are ordered to find if Neonicotinoid pesticides could be directly involved with population collapse of bees and other insects.

I have spoken with Dave Goulson personally, and have edited that talk and put it up as an audio podcast for the general public. I would encourage you to listen to it. It is at : http://www.tonu.org/2013/06/06/dave-goulson/

Now, to best of my knowledge, Canada has not conducted independent direct investigation of the effects of these pesticides on bees and how it might or might not affect Canadian Nature, its flora and fauna. Further, Canada may actually not have any institution that is capable of conducting such investigations and yet is not funded either by the corporations that have a vested interest in the outcome, or where the scientists that conduct such investigations cannot be fired or gagged by the Canadian Government that, for whatever reason, may not want to find problems with these pesticides. In other words, Canada may be incapable of finding unvarnished truth about safety concerns relating to these poisons.

As you are surely aware, several environment groups such as David Suzuki Foundation, Eco-justice etc are challenging Health Canada to review its continued acceptance of a number of potentially harmful chemicals that are banned in other parts of the world for the health risks they pose.

I am scheduled to speak with some representatives of these groups, on record, so as to edit and put up their comments as public podcasts for the people to learn. My blog and podcasts are not super popular, but they are beginning to get some traction, with between 600 and 1,000 hits a day and a fairly global reach, but more concentrated in North America, Europe and India.

I include a map of recent hits on my blogs and podcasts / videos of the last 48 hours, as provided by the built in apps of WordPress, for your reference.

So, I end this letter with a request to either speak with me at your convenience, or provide information as to how the Canadian Govt is being prudent in safeguarding interests of the people and the environment of Canada and not narrow short term economic goals of corporations at the expense of everything else. In absence of possibility of a direct talk, I should also be happy to receive a written response.

For public awareness, I intend to make this letter public, possibly on my blog or on Facebook or twitter. Should I receive a response from your Government, I shall be most glad to also put that up for public consumption, including an audio podcast, if any.

With many thanks

Tony Mitra

10891 Cherry Lane, Delta, BC, V4E 3L7, Canada

604-649 7535, tony.mitra@gmail.com, www.tonu.org