<div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>This is a interesting article and I appreciate learning about it here on APWG. I was confused by the comments at first, thinking it was posted on an environmental health listserve I subscribe to. My comments below.</font></span></div>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>Dominic Maze wrote:<br></font></span></div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font><font color="navy"><span style="color:navy">The fact that this paper identifies a whole range of medical issues linked to (presumably) one active ingredient makes me suspicious; it would seem to be much more realistic that a study on the potential ill-effects of an already rigorously studied, very well-known and contentious chemical and product, would turn up perhaps a single significant linkage between ill-health and glyphosate.</span></font></font></span></p>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>GF: <font color="#000000">I see this idea implied a lot, that limiting the variable should somehow limit the effects. I'm not aware of any actual support of that in reality. Glyphosate or any other single chemical compound may not be complex, but when they interact with biological systems, the effects can become quite diversified and complex. This is a function of the complexity of biological systems, not the complexity of the chemical compound.</font></font></span></div>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>That being said, glyphosate is used in formulations, not in isolation. There is a lack of data for the formulations, because manufacturers are not required to disclose "inactive ingredients". It is, however, well recognized that adjuvants can and do increase the toxicity and persistence of pesticide formulations, and this is the reason that they are there in the first place. This, along with other factors, contributes to a contextual bias that makes it difficult to assess the full toxicity of pesticide formulations.</font></span></div>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font><font color="navy"><span style="color:navy">DM: A colleague sent this link to a Huffington Post article (not exactly known for being journalistic shills for big business) which makes a nice rebuttal:</span></font></font></span></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font><span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tamar-haspel/condemning-monsanto-with-_b_3162694.html" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tamar-haspel/condemning-monsanto-with-_b_3162694.html</a></span></font></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font><font color="navy"><span style="color:navy">I guess the real question is how does such a poorly executed study and paper get published in a well-respected, even if not impactful, journal?</span></font></font></span></p>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>GF: Marc, I'm not sure what it is about Tamar Haspel's opinion piece that you consider to be a nice rebuttal. She explains that she googles "exogenous semiotic entropy", retrieves that exact sequence of words only in this article, and concludes the authors made the whole thing up. (???) </font></span></div>
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</font></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font>I agree with you that there is no reason to suspect the writer is a shill for big business, just a person with an opinion, which she is entitled to. However, I do not find her analysis of this article to be particularly insightful.</font></span></div>
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</span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Here is a link to the referenced article in Entropy:</span></div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">
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</span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt"> <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416" target="_blank">http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416</a></span></font></span></div>
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</span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"><font size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE:12pt">It is interesting to note that the article appeared in a special edition of Entropy called "Biosemiotic Entropy: Disorder, Disease and Mortality". Biosemiosis introduces a significant paradigm shift in our perception of biologic function. <font size="3">This perspective may not e<font size="3">mbraced by all, but <font size="3">I consider it a noble attempt to address the complexity of biological systems. In any event, </font></font></font>I believe the<font size="3"> article</font> deserves more thoughtful consideration than that offered by Tamar Haspel in t<font size="3">he Huffington Post</font>.</span></font></span></div>
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</span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">best regards,</span></div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">
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</span><div><span style="font-family:georgia,serif">Gena Fleming<br></span><font color="navy" face="Arial"><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Arial;COLOR:navy;FONT-SIZE:10pt"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif"> </span></span></font></div>
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