By Cassandra Anderson
April 24, 2012
YOU can help to hold the USDA and Dow Chemical accountable simply by posting your comments on the official public record of Dow Chemical’s petition with the USDA to approve their 2,4-D herbicide resistant GMO crops (remember that 2,4-D herbicide is half of the recipe for Agent Orange).
The USDA is required to respond to all UNIQUE comments publicly. Therefore, it is essential that you write your own message in addition to using any of the issues listed below. Comments close on April 27th, so make sure to get them in today. It’s simple to do, and you can view the list of issues and source links below. Just go to the USDA website to leave your comments and take action!
http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=APHIS-2010-0103-0001
Here is a list of issues concerning the new dangerous 2,4-D herbicide resistant crops and source links that we encourage you to use, along with your own message in your comments to the USDA:
• I am demanding a full Environmental Impact Statement on these crops because they can affect human health.
• What are the cumulative effects for these crops and the increase in 2,4-D herbicide usage?
• EPA documents show that 2,4-D herbicide is the seventh largest source of dioxin in the US.
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/24d_red.pdf
• EPA documents reveal that 2,4-D agricultural runoff has polluted groundwater across the US. Dioxin has a half-life of more than 100 years when leached into soil and embedded in water systems. Additionally, when contaminated fish are used as a food source, humans absorb dioxin.
http://www.epa.gov/teach/chem_summ/24D_summary.pdf
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/agent-orange/history
• The commercialization of GMO 2,4-D herbicide resistant crops will dramatically increase the usage of 2,4-D herbicide that is linked to dioxin to be used on food crops. More
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