Monsanto found liable for weedkiller poisoning in France

[Judi Lynn]

Posted at 04:24 PM ET, 02/13/2012
Monsanto found liable for weedkiller poisoning in France
By Elizabeth Flock

Memory loss. Headaches. Stammering.

French farmer Paul Francois says he suffered all three neurological problems after inhaling a weedkiller made by biotech giant Monsanto in 2004. On Monday, a French court found Monsanto legally responsible for poisoning Francois and ordered the company to compensate him “entirely,” Agence France-Presse reports.

The decision could affect more than just Francois; it marks the first time a farmer has successfully sued the company over claims of the health problems caused by pesticides.

Francois, who is 47, told Reuters that he was pleased with the decision but said many other farmers have already been affected.

“I am alive today, but part of the farming population is going to be sacrificed and is going to die because of this,” he told Reuters.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/monsanto-found-liable-for-weedkiller-poisoning-in-france/2012/02/13/gIQAp2WcBR_blog.html?wprss=rss_world

[Newest Reality]

1. But, but ...

glycophosphate is safe, just like genetically modified foods.

In fact, I wash my GM food down with a nice, cold glychophospate shake everyday. I don't think the boils and internal bleeding, or the massive lumps have anything to do with that, though and the FDA would agree with me on that.

Excuse me while I go reinsert my left eyeball. It has a tendency to slide out and hang.

[yellowcanine]

10. It is glyphosate, not "glycophosphate"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate

[harun]

2. Poorly written article. Doesn't even say what weedkiller it was? Was it Roundup? Why call it a

weedkiller, it is a PLANT killer.

[KT2000]

6. It is Lasso

am trying to find out if it has been banned in the US.

Also - the word "pesticide" is used as a generic term to cover pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.

[LiberalEsto]

9. Monsatan has lobbyists to keep its products from being banned in the US

no matter how dangerous the products are.

[bvar22]

25. Monsanto even has a seat in the White House.

[font size=5]
The DLC New Team
[/font]
(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=254886&kaid=86&subid=85

Google: "Vilsack ties to Monsanto"



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]

[LiberalEsto]

8. They said it was Lasso

From:

http://whatsinproducts.com/information.php?brandNo=13-019-020

Ingredients:
Chemical CAS# or ID %
Alachlor
015972-60-8 45.1
Chlorobenzene
000108-90-7 >26-<30
Hydrocarbon solvent (unspecified)
999999-90-6 >19-<24
Emulsifier(s) (unspecified)
999999-58-8 >4.5-<6
Naphthalene
000091-20-3 >0.09-<0.15

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
Hazards to Humans and Domestic Animals
Keep out of reach of children.
ACUTE & CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS
Acute Health Effects:
From MSDS
Potential Health Affects:
Likely routes of exposure - Skin contact, eye contact, inhalation
Eye contact, short term - risk of serious damage to eyes. Eye injury may be permanent.
Skin contact, short term - Irritating to skin. May cause allergic skin reaction.
Inhalation, short term - Irritating to respiratory system.
Single ingestion - Harmful if swallowed.
Chronic Health Effects:
From MSDS
MONOCHLOROBENZENE:
INHALATION, EXCESSIVE, NON OCCUPATIONAL, OCCUPATIONAL:
Gastro-intestinal effects: liver damage
Urological/renal effects: kidney damage
General/systemic effects: fatigue
INGESTION: May cause effects similar to those described above.

NAPHTHALENE:
SKIN EFFECTS: sensitization
EYE CONTACT, REPEATED, OCCUPATIONAL: Clouding of eye (opacity of cornea)
INHALATION, EXCESSIVE, OCCUPATIONAL, NON OCCUPATIONAL: Eye nerve inflammation (retrobulbar and/or optic neuritis; skin yellowing (jaundice); urinary bladder inflammation (cystitis); destruction of red cells (hemolysis), methemoglobinemia; blood in urine (hematuria)
INGESTION: May cause effects similar to those described under Inhalation.
Carcinogenicity:
From MSDS
May cause cancer.
IARC Classification: Naphthalene Category 2B.

The state of California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 requires the following label on this product. WARNING! This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer.

[yellowcanine]

12. I suspect the problem is the Naphthalene. Really should not breathe that stuff. The label does

warn of inhalation risks. Is it enough? This French court didn't think so.

[KT2000]

15. Heard an environmental doctor

who was speaking about the effects of exposure to toxic chemicals. He had a patient who was a nurse who slowly went off the rails mentally. They finally figured out that she had put mothballs on the floor under her bed - napthalene. I doubt they would have ever figured it out had she not gone to a doctor who practices environmental medicine.

[yellowcanine]

16. Not to attack the victim here but unfortunately a lot of farmers (at least in the U.S.) don't always

pay much attention to the warnings on pesticide labels about health related things. They figure they are tough I guess.

[KT2000]

18. There is a good reason for that

the manufacturers have made sure that no one takes the warnings seriously. "They just have to put that stuff there because of the tree huggers." The salesmen drill this into the retailers and the retailers drill this into the farmers (consumers).
My friend was poisoned because the lab where PhD scientists used their exhaust hoods for cookie storage, let their chemicals drift into the surrounding offices. He was an engineer and had to quit because of multiple health problems including brain damage.

I was poisoned by purchasing bolts of fabric that had been transported in pesticide containers. Someone saved some money and did not take the dangers of pesticides seriously.

Lots of people get sick and damaged for life because of stupid things like this.

[LiberalEsto]

22. A lot of people ignore the warnings on residential chemicals

My idiot neighbor, who is several cans short of a sixpack, sprays Roundup in his yard although they have two dogs. I told him the stuff wasn't good for them, but he laughed it off. I won't let my dogs go near his yard.

[bvar22]

26. Suburban Home Owners are MUCH worse.

Out of economic necessity, most farmers WILL use the minimum amount of chemicals recommended by the manufacturer.

Suburban Home Owners will generally use magnitudes over the recommended amount if a weed appears on the front lawn.
The Suburbs are much more toxic than rural farmland,
and property adjacent to Golf Courses should be placarded as a Hazardous to Your Health.

[yellowcanine]

27. Yes. I personally had a negative experience with a neighbor and 2,4-D

I walked out into my back yard and smelled it immediately. Just so you know, if you smell it, it is in your yard. This wasn't even my next door neighbor. It was two houses away. I looked to see where it was coming from and could see him out back in his yard waving the spray wand around like a music conductor. He was evidently trying to kill the broad leaved weeds in his lawn. 2,4-D will kill most broad leaved plants but doesn't hurt grass. I had a nice stand of wild flowers which did not survive the onslaught. I should have probably said something to the neighbor but I just didn't have the energy to get into it with him.

[LiberalEsto]

23. It was the chlorobenzene, according to BBC

"Mr Francois, a cereal farmer from the Charente region in south-west France, had to stop work for a year. Medical tests found the hazardous chemical chlorobenzene in his body."

"Lasso has been banned in France since 2007. It was also withdrawn from sale earlier in Belgium, Canada, the UK and some other countries, French TF1 television reports."

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17024494

It is due to Monsatan's relentless lobbyists that this herbicide has not been banned in the US, although it's been banned in Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and other countries.

[yellowcanine]

11. Correct term is "herbicide." Common name is weedkiller because it is used on weeds.

[harun]

28. Weeds are simply unwanted plants. Some people consider milk thistle a weed, some a good source

of medicine.

[chervilant]

20. Apparently,

it is a HUMAN killer, too...

[Judi Lynn]

3. Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning in France

Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning in France
French farmer Paul Francois says he suffered neurological problems after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller
Reuters in Lyon
guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 February 2012 15.48 EST

French court has declared the US biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.

In the first such case heard in court in France, the grain grower Paul Francois, 47, said he suffered neurological problems including memory loss, headaches and stammering after inhaling Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller in 2004.

He blames Monsanto for not providing adequate warnings on the product label.

The ruling was given by a court in Lyon, south-east France, which ordered an expert opinion of Francois's losses to establish the amount of damages.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/feb/13/monsanto-guilty-chemical-poisoning-france

[handmade34]

4. so much bad from one company

http://bestmeal.info/monsanto/facts.shtml

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/030913_Monsanto_suicides.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/10/2011102994021308862.html

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18841.cfm

etc, etc.. the list is endless

[glinda]

17. Yea and all they have to do is pay fines! Not correct anything really. Especially

after the nasty deeds are already done. I hope they rot.

[harun]

21. They basically want to own the rights to humanity's food. When that is your goal

your only ally is the United States Congress, unfortunately.

They want to have patented genes spread throughout everything that grows thus making money on and controlling all food. Hard to spin that as good for anyone.

[midnight]

5. “It’s like lying on a bed of thorns and trying to say which one cut you,” a farmer who recovered

from prostate cancer and asked not to be named told Reuters." What a great way for this farmer to express the nearly impossible situation this corporation put him and other farmers in.

[KT2000]

7. It sure is -

companies always require that the exact thorn be proven to be the one that took someone down.
Check out defense attoruney questionnaires for anyone suing for illness caused by toxic chemicals.

For example: Do you wear mascara.
Do you wear makeup.
What shampoo do you use.
How many times to you walk by your laundry room in a day.
What cleaners do you use in your home?

Pages and pages of collecting any thorn possible.

[midnight]

13. Interesting questions.... So this farmer nailed down the ridiculousness of this process...

[JJW]

14. Don't do evil!

[azurnoir]

19. Good for France I'd wager this would not have been the outcome

in the US.

[CanSocDem]

24. Indeed.

More evidence that the better-behaved children of France (per yesterdays thread), get it from responsible adults.

.

[polly7]

29. France Seeks to Cut Pesticide Use in Half

A related article:

France Seeks to Cut Pesticide Use in Half
—By Tom Philpott| Wed Feb. 15, 2012 3:00 AM PST

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/02/france-eu-monsanto-pesticide-ban

"Over in France, a farmer has successfully sued Monsanto for pesticide poisoning. The farmer claims he suffered a raft of neurological troubles after inhaling the agrochemical giant's Lasso herbicide while cleaning his sprayer in 2004. The court's ruling against Monsanto "could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides," according to Reuters.

All very interesting, but what caught my eye was this background bit toward the end of the story:

France, the EU's largest agricultural producer, is now targeting a 50 percent reduction in pesticide use between 2008 and 2018, with initial results showing a 4 percent cut in farm and non-farm use in 2008-2010."