Glyphosate
Glyphosate was patented in 1961 by the Stauffer Chemical Company as a descaling and chelating agent. It was used to clean out pipes and boilers in hot water systems because of its ability to strongly bind with minerals, thereby allowing deposits to be flushed out of the system.
It was later discovered to be an excellent herbicide, and is also now known to be an effective bacterial antibiotic.
While glyphosate is supposed to be relatively non-toxic to human tissue in small doses, there is reason to believe it can cause major issues in the long-term due to its disruption of the normal bacteria flora in the human intestinal tract, as well as a build-up of the chemical in the body over time.
There is also evidence that compounds that accompany the various formulations of glyphosate on the market can be much more toxic to humans directly than the glyphosate itself.
For an in-depth discussion of how bad glyphosate really is, see the Toxic Legacy page in the More Information section.
See also:
- A Short History of Glyphosate
- Exposure risk and environmental impacts of glyphosate: Highlights on the toxicity of herbicide co-formulants.
- Glyphosate Residue Free – Certified Products
- Stephanie Seneff: A researcher who has done a lot of work studying glyphosate.
- Highly Diluted Glyphosate Mitigates Its Effects on Artemia salina: Potential for effect mitigation using Homeopathy.