New Study Renews Roundup 'Weedkiller' Toxicity Concern

A new study is claiming that the popular Monsanto weedkiller Roundup (glyphosate) is indeed a serious health threat.

They now say some effects of the chemical produced a variety of adverse effects on cellular oxidative balance and triggered two 'death proteins' in human cells.

Too complicated for me to fully understand.

A new study published in the January issue of International Journal of Toxicology titled, "GlyphosateCommercial Formulation Causes Cytotoxicity, Oxidative Effects, and Apoptosis on Human Cells: Differences With its Active Ingredient," raises renewed concern that formulations of the world's most popular herbicide glyphosate (e.g. Roundup), used primarily in the production of GM food, represent a serious human health threat.

Researchers studied the effects of a glyphosate-based formulation on human cells, at dilutions far below agricultural applications. The researchers discovered that while glyphosate and its amino acid metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), showed little to no observable toxic effects in isolation, a glyphosate-based formulation containing adjuvants produced a variety of adverse effects on cellular oxidative balance, including the following signs of oxidative stress:

Increases in reactive oxygen species
Increases in nitrotyrosine formation
Increases in superoxide dismutase activity
Increases in glutathione levels

The glyphosate formulation studied also triggered two 'death proteins' in human cells known as caspase 3/7, inducing pathways that activate programmed cell death (apoptosis), a clear sign of significant toxicity.

Article

Also, some info about the Seralini rat controversy;

Remember a researcher named Gilles-Eric Seralini, his 2012 GMO study, and the controversy that swirled around it?

He fed rats GMOs, in the form of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn, and they developed tumors. Some died. The study was published in the journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology. Pictures of the rats were published. (see top right - Ed.)

A wave of biotech-industry criticism ensued. Pressure built. “Experts” said the study was grossly unscientific, its methods were unprofessional, and Seralini was biased against GMOs from the get-go. Monsanto didn’t like Seralini at all.


Eight years prior to Seralini, Monsanto also did a rat-tumor-GMO study and published it in the very same journal. Monsanto’s study showed there were no tumor problems in the rats. But here’s the explosive kicker. Monsanto used the same strain of rats that Seralini did and same number of rats (10). And nobody complained about it.

Truth about the Seralini rat-tumor-GMO study explodes

Always something !!

reply to post by xuenchen



Roundup is a toxin, we are the experiment!

Over 10 years now, and the devastation from this toxic
chemical is now widespread, from superweeds to crop plagues!

How will this turn out? My guess is Monsanto is moving
on to more expensive alternatives to pesticides,
such as their recent 86 million dollar purchase of
a company for RNA gene expressions.

There is no doubt to me that Roundup is toxic to humans. I understand the terminology and some of the chemicals and metabolites the article addresses. The foods that are treated with roundup aren't that toxic when consumed occasionally, like once a week in small doses. The liver and kidneys of a healthy person should be able to clear those when consumed once a week. Constant use can possibly cause long term problems in the body.

Roundup is used on a lot of fields, not just GM plants. It neutralizes over a period of time but can partially reactivate if certain fertilizers are added to the soil within months after the chemical has neutralized.. I can't remember which ones they are. The safety results of the product do not address this situation.

GM foods can have the roundup applied anytime without damaging them and there is no real evidence to show long term consumption safety and none is required either. Most foods are not required to be tested for long term consumption safety issues, This is normal procedure in this country.

If you ate a lot of spinach products every day for years, the effects to a person's body would be bad. The problem is that we eat these roundup foods continuously when we eat commercial foods.

This was a question and answer from that Monsanto Q&A site;


Expert Answer(s):


Question

How much pesticide and / or weed killer gets absorbed into freshly planted GM seeds from residual amounts in the soil from previous treatments ? And how much gets absorbed by plants through roots after new treatments ? And, do end products retain any pesticide or weed killer amounts (other than washable surface amounts) that would be unsafe to humans ? Who determines safe levels if any levels do in fact exist ? And finally, are different amounts absorbed by non-GM originated plants ?

Question Submitted by: xuenchen from chicago, Illinois

Answer

Your questions all relate to the safety of pesticide residues that may occur in GM crops. That’s a reasonable concern given the rapid adoption and widespread use of GM crops. Importantly, since crops tolerant to herbicides such as glyphosate are very popular among farmers, spraying of glyphosate could lead to residues of the active ingredient in the forage or grain that is consumed by animals or humans. When farmers spray fields to eliminate weeds that compete with the crop and reduce yield, the vast majority of the glyphosate enters plants through the leaves. Glyphosate is tightly bound to soil, and little or no glyphosate is taken up from the soil, either by newly planted seeds or by existing plants, whether GM or non-GM. One of the reasons that glyphosate is so popular with farmers is that farmers can safely plant other crops after using glyphosate without impacts on the subsequent crop. Over time, soil microorganisms break down any glyphosate residues in the soil.

Any glyphosate residues that remain in the plant decrease over time following application, and are less in grain compared to leaves. Processing of grain for use in food also reduces detectible residues. For example, there is no detectible glyphosate present in the oil fraction in soybean or corn oil.

Finally, since there is the potential for residues of glyphosate to remain in forage and grain used in animal feed and human foods, the levels must be measured across many locations and environments to determine the highest levels that might be present. In the US, the EPA is responsible to examine all uses of pesticides and must examine the residue data and establish safe levels of exposure. All uses must be approved and the combined exposure from all crops must be below the acceptable dose level established by the EPA. This process was described previously in detail on this site. That answer can be found at: (gmoanswers.com...). Other countries follow similar procedures within their regulatory agencies.



Answered by: Marian Bleeke on Thursday, 10/17/2013 7:02 pm

Fate and Metabolism Platform Lead, Monsanto

I joined Monsanto in 1984 after receiving my Ph.D. in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California – Berkeley. I am part of the Regulatory Environmental Sciences Technology Center, and have spent my career on understanding how Monsanto’s agricultural chemical products behave in the environment. We study what happens to our products in plants, animals, soil and water, and determine the potential for environmental and human exposure, in order to ensure that our products can be used safely.

Expert Answer(s):

i know some of you do not like David Suzuki but he does have a great explanation of the dangers of these so called round up ready crops and gmo's...here is the vid for anyone who is interested

Of course it is! One more facet in the organised soft kill being orchestrated by the dark forces at the very pinnacle of the pyramid, totally in obscura.

Having lived through multiple deployments, it will be sad and ironic that my summer job in high school (golf course with mucho RoundUp applications) is what will end up killing me.

HUMBLEONE
Of course it is! One more facet in the organised soft kill being orchestrated by the dark forces at the very pinnacle of the pyramid, totally in obscura.

And then it rains and the stuff runs off into the ditch, the stream and out into the river. Hay but don't worry about that.....just make sure you dispose of your motor oil properly.

get this my neighbor is using degreaser for cleaning motors as weed killer.

I do not use weed killer anymore in my backyard, I will pick the weeds by hand as I do not want to poison my food.

I use weed killer at the front as there is a lot of weeds and the real estate hates weeds.