Eighty of the 93 patients intentionally ingested RoundUp at its 41% concentration (home gardeners use a much weaker 1% concentration). Only seven of them died. But 66% had damage to their gastrointestinal tract and 43% had sore throats.
Glyphosate is definitely a poison, but it has been widely considered among the safest pesticides. Compared to other agricultural chemicals, it causes little harm to birds, fish and mammals, and it breaks down relatively quickly in the environment.
The problem is that most studies focus on the chemical glyphosate and not actual products such as Monsanto’s Roundup. A Scientific American article:
Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.
One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call “astonishing.”
According to one study “inert” ingredients can amplify up to 1000 times the toxicity of active ingredients:
Adjuvants in pesticides are generally declared as inerts, and for this reason they are not tested in long-term regulatory experiments. It is thus very surprising that they amplify up to 1000 times the toxicity of their active principles in 100% of the cases where they are indicated to be present by the manufacturer. In fact, the differential toxicity between formulations of pesticides and their active principless now appears to be a general feature of pesticides toxicology.
80% of GMO crops are engineered to withstand RoundUp and GMO crops now make up 90% of the United State’s corn, soy, sugar, canola, and cotton seed. RoundUp is also used as a desiccant (drying agent) at harvest on 160 conventional crops.