TAKE ACTION: Stop Bayer's New Icafolin-Methyl Herbicide and GMOs

Bayer, which bought Monsanto and retired its infamous name in 2018, is getting ready to roll out icafolin-methyl, its first new herbicide in over 30 years, one that the company says has “exceptional safety.” And, yes, they're genetically engineering crops to tolerate it.

Bayer scientists don’t understand how the herbicide works to kill plants. They say it’s “probably by binding to ß-tubulins.”

Pharmaceuticals that target ß-tubulins are used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, a disease linked to glyphosate exposure. Will Bayer be poisoning eaters with one herbicide and “treat” them with another? Tubulin binders come with severe side effects, including toxicity to the brain and blood.

TAKE ACTION: Tell Your State Legislators To Block Bayer’s New Icafolin-Methyl Herbicide and Genetically Engineered Crops!

Monsanto seized the opportunity presented by the rise of Roundup-resistant "superweeds" to develop additional genetically engineered traits so crops like corn could soak up a wide range of herbicides, including 2,4-D, dicamba, glufosinate, and others such as imazamox, isoxaflutole, mesotrione, oxynil, sulfonylurea, and HPPD-inhibiting herbicides.

Farmers continue to struggle with herbicide-resistant weeds. So, Bayer, which bought Monsanto and retired its infamous name in 2018, is getting ready to roll out icafolin-methyl, its first new herbicide in over 30 years, one that the company says has “exceptional safety.” And, yes, they're genetically engineering crops to tolerate it.

There’s no reason to believe Bayer that icafolin-methyl is safe, but as Claire Robinson of GMWatch conceded, “there’s little to no information available on its possible toxicity to humans or the environment.”

Icafolin-methyl’s mode of action could help us predict how it might impact human health, but what exactly that is is unclear. Robinson found an article published by Bayer scientists that “makes the remarkable admission that even they don’t understand how the herbicide works to kill plants.” They say it’s “probably by binding to ß-tubulins.”

Pharmaceuticals that target ß-tubulins are used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, a disease linked to glyphosate exposure. Will Bayer be poisoning eaters with one herbicide and “treat” them with another? Wouldn’t trust them to do that. Tubulin binders come with severe side effects, including toxicity to the brain and blood.

Bayer says icafolin-methyl kills weeds but is harmless to people. They told that lie about glyphosate. They expect us to believe them now?

Tell Your State Legislators To Block Bayer’s New Icafolin-Methyl Herbicide and Genetically Engineered Crops!

Personal Information

*SAMPLE TEXT TO YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS*

You will be able to modify this text on the next page, after entering your information.

Dear [State Legislator],

Please do something to help the farmers of our state get off the pesticide treadmill and go organic.

Companies like Bayer, which bought Monsanto and retired its infamous name in 2018, can only survive by selling farmers more and more pesticides each year. This business model has made corporations rich, but it has proved disastrous to the health of farmers, farm workers, pesticide applicators, rural communities, pollinators, the environment, and everyone who eats.

No matter how many people are killed or sickened by its poisons, Bayer isn’t going to quit.

Even after being forced to pay billions of dollars to Roundup-exposed cancer victims, it won’t step back. Instead of making the consumer version of Roundup safe, it replaced it with a cocktail of various herbicides that is 45 times more toxic.

Now, Bayer says it’s going to launch a new herbicide called icafolin-methyl and sell it to farmers along with genetically engineered seeds for crops that can be soaked with it.

Bayer isn’t sure exactly how icafolin-methyl works—“probably by binding to ß-tubulins” its scientists say—but it insists that the herbicide will only kill plants and be harmless to humans. That’s the lie they told us about glyphosate. Why should we believe them this time?

Pharmaceuticals that target ß-tubulins are used in chemotherapy to treat cancer, a disease linked to glyphosate exposure. Is Bayer trying to poison eaters with one product and treat them with another? I wouldn’t trust them to do that. Tubulin binders come with severe side effects, including toxicity to the brain and blood.

Thirty years ago, farmers were promised effortless weed control with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready GMOs that could be sprayed with glyphosate-based herbicides.

Since then, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta/ChemChina and Corteva (Dow/DuPont), have cranked out an endless pipeline of herbicides and GMO seeds for farmers to buy: 2,4-D, dicamba, glufosinate, imazamox, isoxaflutole, mesotrione, oxynil, sulfonylurea, and HPPD-inhibitors.

It’s time to end this racket. Please don’t give the pesticide companies liability protections. Instead, ban their poisons, block them from selling new ones, and help farmers transition to organic.

Thank you.

[Your Name]