(NaturalHealth365) It seems the risk of poisoning civilians has been the price to pay in the midst of the United States war on drugs in South America. But officials in Colombia are finally seeing that crop dusting coca fields with the deadly herbicide glyphosate is too big of a health risk, particularly in an area where proper medical attention is hard to come by.

Meanwhile, spokespersons for the chemical giant Monsanto continue to trumpet the herbicide’s ‘safety.’ Yet, one lobbyist had an entirely different reaction when offered a glass of glyphosate to drink. This video (below) says it all – as a lobbyist freaks out at the prospect of drinking this toxic poison – check it out for yourself:

Twisting the facts and spitting out misinformation for profit

Colombia’s change of heart came about following a report by the research division of the World Health Organization classifying glyphosate as a ‘probable carcinogen.’ The country will be employing other tactics for addressing the production of cocaine, joining the ranks of other countries in the region that have avoided the practice of crop dusting with herbicides to combat bug and weed issues on its coca fields. But, naturally Monsanto scoffs at the WHO’s findings.

Glyphosate was discovered by Monsanto, which continues to maintain that the chemical is safe to use. The company frequently cites a 2012 ruling by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that products manufactured with a glyphosate base are safe. Monsanto, often described as one of the most hated corporations in the world, accuses naysayers of cherry picking the facts and pushing ‘anti-chemical agendas.’

In response to an October 2013 Associated Press article about the dangerous use of glyphosate on Argentina farms, Monsanto described the poisonous herbicide as less dangerous than common bug repellant. It claimed the chemical had been misused in Argentina.

Commercial formulations of the herbicide glyphosate commonly include any number of additional, often-toxic, chemicals, adding to the potential health risk. The result is that human poisoning caused by the use of the herbicide is not just from the glyphosate alone, but the combination of additional chemicals included in the various formulations, according to researchers at the National Poisons Information Service (Birmingham Centre) and West Midlands Poisons Unit, City Hospital, Birmingham, UK.

The evidence is clear: Glyphosate is toxic and harmful to human health

It may seem logical that spraying a toxic chemical from the sky is going to put those on the ground at risk, but astonishingly, Colombians have been put at risk for a number of years by U.S.-based crop dusters attempting to rage the war on drugs from the air. The result has been villages full of innocent people afflicted with skin rashes, vision problems, high incidence of miscarriage and birth defects, and other health threats.

Research has shown a long list of health complications due to glyphosate toxicity, with greater exposures leading to greater health threats, including premature death. The elderly and very young are at higher risk of developing health disorders due to exposure to the chemical, but ingestion of greater than 85 mL has been shown to cause significant toxicity in adults of all ages.

Herbicide formulations based on glyphosate are known to cause gastrointestinal corrosion, with people typically complaining of mouth, throat and esophageal pain. Renal and liver impairment are also common, and thought to be caused by impairment of the body’s ability to circulate blood to all organs.

Other symptoms include respiratory distress, lack of consciousness, pulmonary edema, shock, heart arrhythmias, kidney failure, and metabolic disorders. Although official data is lacking, Colombian villages also report higher incidence of miscarriages and birth defects.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials refuse to condemn the use of the deadly toxin, pointing to its widespread use as an agrochemical as sufficient evidence of its safety. Colombia had been the only country to attempt to destroy coca plants by air, a practice that has been met with disapproval by a number of political and environmental interests.

References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15862083
https://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2015/05/14/colombia-decision-to-halt-coca-spraying-over-health-concerns-draws-us-criticism
https://peoplesworld.org/colombia-and-world-cope-with-monsanto-s-toxic-herbicide