¶ Monsanto
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Monsanto was an American agrochemical and biotechnology company based in Creve Coeur, Missouri. It is known, among other things, for its production of artificial sweeteners saccharin and aspartame, synthetic fibers, plastics including polystyrenes, pesticides, and agrochemical products.[1]
¶ History
Monsanto Industrial Chemicals purchased the Swann Chemical Company in Anniston, Alabama in 1935, where it began manufacturing polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB).[1:1][2]
Starting in 1944, Monsanto began manufacturing DDT as an insecticide.[3]
In 1970, Monsanto discovered the herbicidal properties of glyphosate and began filing patents for this use.[4][5]
In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the discontinuation of use of DDT in the United States due to "its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its potential human health risks."[6]
Monsanto began marketing glyphosate as an herbicide in 1974 under the name Roundup.[4:1]
Monsanto acquired G.D. Searle in 1985.[7] Donald Rumsfeld, then-President of Searle, reportedly made around $12 million from the sale.[8]
In December 1999, Monsanto and Pharmacia & Upjohn agreed to merge.[9] The merger was completed in April 2000, spinning off the Monsanto Company as its agricultural subsidiary in August 2002.[10]
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) designated glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in March 2015.[11]
In January 2016, Dewayne Johnson filed a lawsuit against Monsanto alleging that his terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma was caused by exposure to the company's glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup.[12] Several thousand related lawsuits followed.[13] Johnson was awarded $78.5 million in damages after five weeks of trial led by Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman.
Bayer closed a deal to acquire Monsanto in June 2018.[14][1:2] The company filed a notice to appeal the Johnson decision in June 2018.[13:1]
¶ Organization
Monsanto was a member of the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy[15] and the Global Business Network (GBN).[16]
Monsanto has provided notable funding to:
- JA Worldwide[17]
- Science Media Centre[18]
- Sierra Club Foundation[19]
- Sunnybrook Foundation[20]
¶ External links
Washington, H. (2019, July 26). Monsanto Poisoned This Alabama Town — And People Are Still Sick. BuzzFeed News. http://archive.today/2020.09.27-101045/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/harrietwashington/monsanto-anniston-harriet-washington-environmental-racism ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Poisoned By PCBs: “A Lack of Control.” (2009, March 27). Chemical Industry Archives; Environmental Working Group. https://web.archive.org/web/20151210110457/http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/anniston/2.asp ↩︎
Sahni, M. (2018, April 23). How Agro-Chemical Giant Monsanto Has Been Destroying Environment, Human Lives for Decades. TeleSUR. https://web.archive.org/web/20230830210255/https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/How-Agro-Chemical-Giant-Monsanto-Been-Destroying-Environment-Human-Lives-for-Decades-20180419-0013.html ↩︎
Hoke, C. G. (2016). Stevick v. Monsanto (p. 2). U.S. Right to Know. https://web.archive.org/web/20220413014118/https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2019/04/Stevick-v.-Monsanto.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
Buchanan, M. (2019, June 4). Roundup’s Risks Could Go Well Beyond Cancer. Bloomberg. http://archive.today/2023.08.31-181817/https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2019-06-04/roundup-cancer-risk-is-only-one-danger-to-humans-animals ↩︎
DDT - A Brief History and Status. (2023, April 3). United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://web.archive.org/web/20230831043449/https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status ↩︎
Greenhouse, S. (1985, July 19). Monsanto to acquire G.D. Searle. The New York Times, Section D, Page 1. https://web.archive.org/web/20230712065911/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/19/business/monsanto-to-acquire-g-d-searle.html ↩︎
Rumsfeld - war criminal, Monsanto man, racketeer? (2006, August 11). GM Watch. http://archive.today/2007.02.14-001917/http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7250 ↩︎
Stein, G., & Chase, B. (1999, December 20). Pharmacia & Upjohn, Monsanto to Merge in $26.5-Billion Deal. Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20200804090911/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-20-fi-45727-story.html ↩︎
2003: Pfizer and Pharmacia Merger. Pfizer. Retrieved August 20, 2013, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130820091420/https://www.pfizer.com/about/history/pfizer_pharmacia ↩︎
IARC Monograph on Glyphosate. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.07.12-185952/https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/ ↩︎
Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto. Justice Pesticides. Retrieved September 4, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.09.04-194438/https://justicepesticides.org/en/juridic_case/dewayne-johnson-v-monsanto/ ↩︎
Millican, S. (2019, March 4). Ring of Fire’s RFK Jr. Wins Award for Monsanto Trial. The Ring of Fire Network. http://archive.today/2023.04.14-083103/https://trofire.com/2019/03/04/ring-of-fires-rfk-jr-wins-award-for-monsanto-trial/ ↩︎ ↩︎
Kresge, N. (2018, June 7). Bayer Closes Monsanto Deal to Cap $63 Billion Transformation. Bloomberg. https://web.archive.org/web/20230830205801/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-07/bayer-closes-monsanto-deal-to-cap-63-billion-transformation#xj4y7vzkg ↩︎
About Us. Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy. Retrieved October 7, 2008, from http://archive.today/2008.10.07-121906/http://www.foodandenergy.org/aboutus.html ↩︎
Members of GBN's WorldView Service, 1987-2006. Global Business Network. Retrieved July 5, 2008, from https://web.archive.org/web/20080705015144/http://www.gbn.com/OrganizationsDisplayServlet.srv ↩︎
d’Archirafi, F. V., & Advani, A. (2021, March 2). Annual Report 2020. Dropbox; JA Worldwide. https://www.dropbox.com/s/97jj167us13iu0z/JA Worldwide Annual Report 2020-final.pdf?dl=0 ↩︎
Funding. Science Media Centre. Retrieved January 9, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220109231247/https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/about-us/funding/ ↩︎
Blackford, L., & Martin, P. Healthy People. Healthy Planet. Annual Report 2010. The Sierra Club Foundation. Retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20220421020749/https://www.sierraclubfoundation.org/sites/sierraclubfoundation.org/files/uploads/2010-annual-report.pdf ↩︎
Smith, A. (2018). Report to Donors 2017 (p. 42). Sunnybrook Foundation. https://web.archive.org/web/20230830225540/https://sunnybrook.ca/uploads/1/_foundation/pubs/report-to-donors/report-to-donors-2017.pdf ↩︎