New Mexico Mercury

Although no credit was given to New Mexico Mercury, it's nice to know that some local news outlets are paying attention to our stories.

After our piece on the use of Glyphosate by city, county and state governments in New Mexico, Susan Clair, who's interviewed in the article, was contacted by KOAT for their brief piece. Our original story was written by Svetlana Ozden, who studies at UNM and was a former editor at the Daily Lobo.  She is currently interning with the New Mexico Mercury. 

Glyphosate, which is the primary chemical ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup, is produced by the multi-national chemical corporation Monsanto.  The company is known for producing and patenting genetically altered seeds for a variety of foods and sueing local, small-farmers who's crops have traces of these "patents" in their yield.  A host of European countries, Japan, and Australia have in some way banned genetically modified foods, as well as a few counties in California.

Ozden's piece highlighted a study where rats who were fed Monsanto's genetically modified corn produced to withstand high spraying of Glyphosate produced large tumors and resulted in pre-mature death rate of 50% in male rats and 70% in females.  Rats who were given trace amounts of straight Glyphosate resulted in severe kidney damage and a variety of health issues. 

What's often missed when discussing the widespread use of Glyphosate is how it eventually makes it into the groundwater.  Similar to to pharmaceuticals that make their way into our water supply, treatment plants and septic systems are not equipped or required to deal with such contaminants.  In a move that is par for the course in our current Orwellian world, Monsanto now labels itself as "A Sustainable Agriculture Company."