Research: Roundup Diluted by 450-Fold is Still Toxic to DNA

By  Sayer Ji

Contributing Writer for  Wake Up World

Research  published in the journal Archives of Toxicology indicates that Roundup, the most common formulation of the herbicide glyphosate, is not only  more toxic than its constituent ingredients, but is capable of damaging DNA within a human cell line when diluted down to  450-fold lower concentrations than presently used in GMO agricultural applications. In the researchers’ own words, Roundup has “genotoxic effects after short exposure to concentrations that correspond to a 450-fold dilution of spraying used in agriculture.”

The chemical –  glyphosate – is the highest selling herbicide in the world and has been identified as having a wide range of potential adverse health effects — largely minimized and/or under-reported — which include  over two dozen diseases.   Glyphosate’s primary properties of concern are its  carcinogenicity,  genotoxicity and  endocrine disruptive actions. Roundup contains a surfactant known as polyoxyethyleneamine which functions to reduce the surface tension between Roundup and the cells exposed to it, making the cellular membranes more permeable to absorbing glyphosate and other chemicals within the formula. The surfactant in Roundup may therefore be responsible for increasing the toxicity of glyphosate  by several  orders of magnitude higher  than it exhibits by itself.

This new research sheds light on a fundamental problem associated with toxicological risk assessments of agrichemicals (and novel manmade chemicals in general), namely, these assessments do not take into account the reality of synergistic toxicologies, i.e. the amplification of harm associated with multiple chemical exposures occurring simultaneously. Moreover, toxicological risk assessments on novel chemicals are based on the concept of determining “an acceptable level of harm,” instead of protecting those who would be exposed to a chemical by implementing the precautionary principle, i.e. if there is reason to believe that a chemical  could cause harm (determined by animal and in vitro studies) then they  should be regulated as if they do cause harm to humans. The precautionary principle would require that the manufacturers of these chemicals prove their product is safe to humans before being allowed to release it onto the market or into the environment, rather than putting the burden of proving it unsafe on the consumer and/or exposed populations, as is presently the case.

Glyphosate exposure is now ubiquitous due to the fact that 88,000 tons of it were used in US in 2007 alone, and likely billions of additional pounds globally.  Accumulating evidence indicates it is resistant to biodegradation and now contaminates the air, rain and groundwater throughout the areas where it has been applied.

Read More

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Is Monsanto’s Herbicide Harming Male Fertility?

Toxicology Research on Roundup

About the Author

Sayer Ji is the founder and chair of  GreenMedInfo.com. His writings and research has been published in the Wellbeing Journal, the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and have been featured on Reuters, Mercola.com, NaturalNews.com, Infowars.com, GaryNull.com, Care2.com. His critically acclaimed essay series The Dark Side of Wheat opens up a new perspective on the universal, human-species specific  toxicity of wheat, and is now available for PDF download.  Follow Sayer on  Facebook  or on  Twitter