UK exporting a deadly pesticide that kills thousands

Channel 4 News in the UK has reported that tens of thousands of people have died from poisoning by a deadly pesticide made in the UK. Hundreds of secret documents and a whistleblower raise questions about whether manufacturer Syngenta put profit before people.

The weedkiller Gramoxone, with its active ingredient paraquat, has helped farmers grow food cheaply for decades. But it’s so lethal, one sip can kill. One former UN official said deaths may be in the hundreds of thousands.

Gramoxone is so toxic its sale has been banned in the UK and EU for more than 10 years. But it’s still made by Syngenta in Huddersfield before being sent all over the world to countries including to India, where farmers still use it today.

Syngenta presented flawed safety data on Gramoxone and secret company documents suggest Syngenta had safer more expensive alternatives that it held back from consumers to protect its profits – which the company denies.

Before transporting it all over the world, notably to India, where it is still used by farmers today, it was made in Huddersfield.

Syngenta identified flaws in the Gramoxona safety data, according to Channel 4 News and Unearthed.

Syngenta also denies having more expensive options to safeguard its profits from customers, according to hidden company records.

Channel 4 News spoke with a reporter who is a senior scientist at the corporation and has been there for more than 20 years about how he caused security issues for the company in 1990.

Not much has changed. Syngenta refutes these claims. He told Channel 4 News that his items were “damaging to individuals” and that he disagreed with science on a “basic level.”

The video is here.

He also stated that he had “spent hundreds of millions of dollars” in the development of Gramoxone. Syngenta has denied prioritizing profits over safety. “It merely came to our attention at the time.” “They are still dying with a deadly pesticide.”