Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” 1,000 Times More Toxic Than Glyphosate Alone

4th August 2015

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

“Glyphosate is definitely genotoxic. There is no doubt in my mind.” ~ Professor Christopher Portier, World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

During a mid-July scientific briefing in London organized by the Soil Association, Professor Christopher Portier reaffirmed the findings of the World Health Organization (WHO); glyphosate is a probable carcinogen that also damages DNA. When both these factors are found within a single chemical, regulators believe there is no safe level of exposure.

Even more disturbing is the data presented by Dr. Robin Mesnage of the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at Kings College in London, which shows that “Roundup is 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate alone.” He said, “Glyphosate is everywhere throughout our food chain – in our food and water. The lack of data on toxicity of glyphosate is not proof of safety and these herbicides cannot be considered safe without proper testing. We know Roundup, the commercial name of glyphosate-based herbicides, contains many other chemicals, which when mixed together are 1,000 times more toxic than glyphosate on its own,” as reported by GMWatch.

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And we are saturated with the weedkiller. The latest European study on city dwellers discovered that in the UK, 7 out of 10 people tested positive for Roundup Ready in their urine.

Chemical Overload

New figures evaluated by the Soil Association highlighted the fact that glyphosate use in UK agriculture practices has risen by 400% over the last 20 years. Glyphosate is also one of three pesticides detected during routine testing of British bread, and found in 30% of samples taken by the Defra committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF).

These numbers shouldn’t be all that surprising considering nearly a third of UK cereals — barley and wheat — are sprayed with the chemical, equating to over one million hectares.

Says Peter Melchett, Soil Association Policy Director:

“If glyphosate ends up in bread it’s impossible for people to avoid it, unless they are eating organic. On the other hand, farmers could easily choose not to use glyphosate as a spray on wheat crops – just before they are harvested. This is why the Soil Association is calling for the immediate ending of the use of glyphosate sprays on wheat destined for use in bread.”

The Soil Association issued a statement urging retailers and manufacturers to reject glyphosate in their products. The food industry claims that the levels of the chemical are not a danger to the public, but in light of the findings of IARC, this assurance comes under serious question — especially in regards to children.

Health Dangers of Roundup Ready

Research in PLOS ONE found that Roundup contaminated GMO food contributed to toxic effects on liver, neurodevelopment and reproduction in animal tests. And this study in Toxicology discovered that glyphosate-based herbicides are both toxic and endocrine disrupters.

The health effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals doesn’t come cheap. IQ loss/intellectual disability, autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obesity (both child and adult), diabetes, infertility and mortality associated with reduced testosterone carry a hefty price tag — to the number of $209 billion annually in the European Union, as documented in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

MIT researcher Stephanie Seneff, PhD, also believes the weedkiller is at the root of a host of modern afflictions — from autism to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Abdominal obesity and breast cancer are linked to glyphosate exposure as well, according to Seneff.

She presents her argument in the journal Entropy:

“Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup®, is the most popular herbicide used worldwide. The industry asserts it is minimally toxic to humans, but here we argue otherwise. Residues are found in the main foods of the Western diet, comprised primarily of sugar, corn, soy and wheat. Glyphosate’s inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes is an overlooked component of its toxicity to mammals. CYP enzymes play crucial roles in biology, one of which is to detoxify xenobiotics. Thus, glyphosate enhances the damaging effects of other food borne chemical residues and environmental toxins. Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body. Here, we show how interference with CYP enzymes acts synergistically with disruption of the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids by gut bacteria, as well as impairment in serum sulfate transport. Consequences are most of the diseases and conditions associated with a Western diet, which include gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. We explain the documented effects of glyphosate and its ability to induce disease, and we show that glyphosate is the “textbook example” of exogenous semiotic entropy: the disruption of homeostasis by environmental toxins.”

Positive Steps

Unlike the U.S. and UK, several countries have taken the findings of the WHO to heart. Several retailers in Switzerland and Germany have discontinued glyphosate products; France will phase out consumer glyphosate products by 2018 and Germany is requesting an European Union ban.

Due to other studies associating the chemical to kidney disease, El Salvador and Sri Lanka have fully banned glyphosate, while Columbia forbids aerial spraying of the weed killer on coca crops.

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