In a response on GMO Answers, the industry created website that allows anyone to ask questions to scientists about GMOs, Marian Bleeke, a scientist with Monsanto, explains why glyphosate is safe. Bleeke specifically addresses concerns that the chemical affect snutrient uptake in roots of crops. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, binds to essential nutrients in the soil, Bleeke writes, but there is so little of it compared to the nutrients themselves that this process does not interrupt normal nutrient uptake by roots.
Metals such as iron and aluminum are in the range of 7,000 – 300,000 ppm or higher; others such as manganese (20 – 3,000 ppm) and zinc (10 – 300 ppm) are present in lower concentrations, but still significantly higher than glyphosate. Because metal ion concentrations are so much higher than glyphosate, with much of it in insoluble soil particles, glyphosate binds tightly to soil and shows very little uptake into plants or movement through soil.
Read the full, original story here: “Question: I don’t understand how you can say GMO food is safe, when farmers are spraying glyphosate on their crops”
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