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Parents alarmed by use of Roundup at Lucia Mar schools

May 20, 2019

Amid an ongoing debate over whether the weed killer Roundup causes cancer, some parents have become outraged upon learning that the Lucia Mar Unified School District has been using glyphosate-based Monsanto products on school grounds. [KCOY]

A sign placed at Shell Beach Elementary School states the product RangerPro was recently used on campus to control pests and weeds. RangerPro, like Roundup, is a glyphosate-based herbicide produced by Monsanto, which is now a subsidiary of Bayer.

Lucia Mar said in a statement that the district has used Roundup on school grounds in the past and is now using RangerPro as it acquires a more environmentally friendly alternative.

“The Lucia Mar Unified School District takes the safety of our students and our staff very seriously,” the district said in the statement. “We have used Roundup in the past, but no longer use that product. The RangerPro that we use is a much lower concentration. We are now replacing the RangerPro with a more environmentally friendly option.”

There has been longstanding debate over the safety of Roundup and glyphosate. The federal Environmental Protection Agency says, for humans, glyphosate has low toxicity and is not likely to be carcinogenic.

But, Monsanto and more recently Bayer have faced numerous lawsuits over alleged harm caused by Roundup. Last week, an Alameda County jury awarded more than $2 billion in damages to a Livermore couple who claimed they contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result of their Roundup use.

The verdict marked the third Roundup lawsuit Bayer has lost in California in a span of less than a year. In each of the three cases, the jury awarded damages of at least tens of millions of dollars.

In a local case, the widow of Cambria farmer Jack McCall, who died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2015, has sued over her husband’s death. McCall reportedly used Roundup on his farm everyday for nearly 30 years, and the family’s dog, which spent its life roaming the farm, also died of lymphoma, according to the suit.


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When I was a kid, the schools sprayed diesel fuel around the backstops and playgrounds. It would stink to high Heaven for days and then fade, but never completely go away. But the weeds wouldn’t grow back for years. Not saying diesel is better than Roundup, just an observation.


7

They were only eating Tide Pods. Now they’ll start drinking Roundup.


5

Cesar Chavez and honest farm and ranch workers tried banning this 30-50 years ago, while also fighting for Porta jons at primarily Caucasian owned farms for workers, he has a holiday in the USA right?. They were and still are master marketers, propogandists, lobbyists and politicians running American Ag, look at some commenter’s here with TV degrees. Or so said my College professor, who was he…


-3

The FDA approved it, so sue the Govt. Follow the money.


10

Here we go again. Headline of the week. Maybe do a little reseach before breaking out those pitchforks and torches.


4

PLEASE, PLEASE don’t sue the school district…. Of course parents have the right to know what’s going on at schools. I’d be willing to bet many parents have used the product for years & probably have home pest control. When used correctly with common sense the product can used safely. People don’t do their own research, they listen to ridiculous litigation commercials on TV or other outlets with an axe to grind. There’s a lot more behind all this, sadly it isn’t focused on the safety of children of the general public. For now please excuse me….I have to call my lawyer about the coffee and a pop tart I had earlier-I believe in entitled to compensation.


12

Cmonnow,


While I appreciate the common sense flavor of your post, I’m going to disagree with you based on what you seem to perceive regarding the safety of the product.


There is no doubt people get sick and die from Roundup. In fact, it’s far more dangerous than many things that are not allowed at school, based on “safety” rules.


Your instincts as presented in your post above are probably right far more often than not…..but not on this one.


Bottom line: the largest supplier of pesticides/herbicides/fungicides was also the largest player in the food supply…..and they attempted to marry the two together. This is madness, not capitalism.


If they’re going to ban tobacco in schools, they should also ban Roundup. Both are not healthy. Especially the Roundup.


-6

I’ve used Roundup regularly for 20 years. If it’s so dangerous, why haven’t I gotten sick?


0

Parents have every legal right to monitor what chemicals/drugs/food/drink/smoke goes into their children’s bodies. They have a duty to insure that their kids aren’t taking in anything unhealthy…..


Except when it comes to stuff that goes on at school. Parents have greatly attenuated rights when it comes to stuff at school, like: School lunches, vaccinations, termination of pregnancies, BC, and apparently weed killer.


No big deal. The government schools would never say, teach or do anything harmful to kids.


3

Do these concerned parents allow their child to have a cell phone? and are they just as concerned about the radiation from it?


13

I thought cell phone radiation was still a conspiracy theory? Or, like so many other conspiracy theories, has it been proven true?


We’re supposed to ignore facts, data and theories that contradict what we’re told on TV. You seem to be violating that commandment. Or, I could be a few months late on my info and the cell-phone radiation theory might now be “real?”


I hope cell-phone radiation stays a conspiracy theory so no one is harmed by it. If they decide it’s true…shoot. Folks got hurt. Very sad. We should insist that it is not true in order to stay safe.


Ditto Roundup. Goofy idiots have been saying the stuff isn’t safe for years! They base their crazy ideas on all kinds of facts, studies, data, etc. They should have never been allowed to do that!


2

Mass hysteria…


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