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dyauspitr 17 hours ago

If it was glyphosates, this would be a much more widespread problem. Roundup/glyphosates are used extensively all across the US and we would be seeing similar statistics everywhere.

tptacek 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Also it's "glyphosate", right? Not "glyphosates". It's not like some weird class of industrial chemicals; it's a specific herbicide, used since 1975, more commonly known as Roundup, notable because Monsanto owns patents on genetically-modified crops that are resistant to it.

culi 15 hours ago | parent [-]

They're probably referring to the different salts (isopropylamine (IPA), potassium, or diammonium) which can greatly affect absorption and effectiveness

tptacek 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Roundup is IPA, Touchdown is DAM. Both extremely common.

culi 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Yeah both glyphosate.

But the doctor in the OP explicitly pointed out that they had increased levels of glyphosate in their blood:

> He also warned that some patients' blood work showed elevated levels for compounds found in herbicides such as glyphosate, and said more testing should be done to rule out environmental toxins, including the neurotoxin BMAA, which is produced by blue-green algae.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-n...

Just because glyphosate is everywhere doesn't mean it can't be concentrated in a particular place.

To be clear I'm not taking a stand for the glyphosate argument at all. I just don't think your line of reasoning is a fair counterargument in this case

0xbadcafebee 14 hours ago | parent [-]

They would need to have been ingesting or breathing the glyphosate pretty recent to their blood draw. It doesn't absorb easily into skin, and it passes through you quickly. And if you do get a concentrated dose, you get nausea, vomiting, respiratory issues (if inhaled). It's a weird thing to be the culprit, since it's hard to get, and doesn't cause many issues. And it's weird to mention at all, since he says only "a few people" had elevated levels of it.

"Melissa Nicholson said her 59-year-old mother, who has suffered for four years with a neurological disorder, received test results indicating she had levels of glyphosate in her body that were 47 times higher than the acceptable level."

This is bizarre. Either she lives right next to a farm that's spraying it, and she's getting it blown into an open window in her house where she's breathing it, and then immediately went for a blood test... or she's somehow ingesting it in/around her house (like from a bottle of Roundup that keeps getting splashed on something she's ingesting).

AmbroseBierce 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You are assuming a simple direct causation, instead it could be a reaction of glyphosate with something else in their bodies that they have inhaled from the air (or from their food), perhaps a heavy metal (given those are mentioned in TFA)

alephnerd 16 hours ago | parent [-]

The Irving family also has a near monopoly on oil refining, trucking, and other high polluting industries in NB and Maine.

alephnerd 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The region in NB where this issue is occurring is the hub for NB's and North America's forestry industry. Over 40% of all harvested forest land in NB is treated with glyphosate [0].

Commercial forestry at JD Irving's scale largely died out in much of the US excluding Maine (where it is also has inordinate political power [1][2]).

[0] - https://www.conservationcouncil.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/0...

[1] - https://themainemonitor.org/maines-future-with-irving/

[2] - https://mainebiz.biz/article/the-irving-influence-a-look-at-...

tptacek 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Glyphosate, not "glyphosates". Roundup. It's used everywhere. It's an extremely widely used herbicide.

alephnerd 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Yes, but almost the entire cluster of the NB cases are around Caraquet NB, which is completely surrounded by softwood plantations, and this has been a case they have been fighting for years.

Additionally, Industrial scale lumber harvesting uses magnitudes more Glyphosate than a home gardener or your local HOA.

tptacek 15 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't doubt something specific is going on there, but it's unlikely it's Roundup, since every suburb in North America is carpet-bombed with the stuff.

ljf 14 hours ago | parent [-]

While other areas might receive high doses, I'd wonder if there is a link here to the amount of salmon and deer the people there eat, that itself consumed exposed plants or lived in exposed water, compared to the rest of the country? Or the impacts on aquifers?