The Case for Banning Monsanto's Roundup
There's strong evidence that the herbicide causes birth defects and probably causes cancer. There's also reason to believe it causes or exacerbates numerous chronic illnesses.
By Dr. Jeff Ritterman
On
March 20, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
reclassified glyphosate as a chemical that probably causes cancer. The IARC is
a branch of the World Health Organization that focuses on cancer, and
it combines the knowledge and expertise of epidemiologists, laboratory
scientists, and biostatisticians. The IARC has been engaged in cancer
research for more than five decades, and its vast experience in cancer
research has led the agency to conclude that "most cancers are, directly
or indirectly, linked to environmental factors and thus are
preventable."
The
IARC had previously designated glyphosate as possibly carcinogenic.
Monsanto, a leading producer of glyphosate under the trade name Roundup,
immediately issued a press releasechallenging
the new IARC designation and contending that Roundup is safe. But
Monsanto has a tremendous amount at stake. Half of the corporation's
revenues come from sales of Roundup and Roundup Ready seeds, which can
tolerate the herbicide. Monsanto advocates that farmers spray their
fields heavily and repeatedly with Roundup in order to kill unwanted
weeds, and Monsanto's corporate strategy is based on the assumption that
Roundup is safe. If Roundup is found to be toxic, the entire house of
cards comes tumbling down, and with it, Monsanto and biotech
agriculture. The banning of glyphosate could mean bankruptcy for
Monsanto.
But
the scientific case for banning glyphosate is convincing. Research
shows that in addition to concerns about cancer, there is strong
evidence that Roundup causes birth defects in vertebrates, including in
humans. The research also reveals that glyphosate may be the cause of or
trigger for a number of chronic illnesses that are now plaguing people
around the globe.
Originally
patented by the Stauffer Chemical Company in 1964, glyphosate is a
powerful chelating agent — meaning that it avidly binds to metals. It's
this chelating property that led to glyphosate's first use as a
descaling agent to clean mineral deposits from pipes in boilers and
other hot water systems. The ability to bind to metals also allows glyphosate-metal complexes to
persist in soil for decades. The chelating property also underlies the
hypothesis that glyphosate-metal complexes are the cause of a fatal chronic kidney disease epidemic that has been ravaging Central America, Sri Lanka, and parts of India.
In
the 1970s, John Franz, a Monsanto scientist, discovered glyphosate's
usefulness as an herbicide. Monsanto patented glyphosate and has
marketed the chemical as "Roundup" since 1974. Glyphosate is now the
world's most widely used herbicide.
But
contrary to Monsanto's claims that Roundup is safe, a virtual avalanche
of scientific studies, including some funded by Monsanto itself, show
alarming incidences of fetal deaths and birth defects in animals exposed
to glyphosate. Birth defects include missing kidneys and lungs,
enlarged hearts, extra ribs, and missing and abnormally formed bones of
the limbs, ribs, sternum, spine, and skull.
These startling revelations can
be found in the 2011 report "Roundup and Birth Defects: Is the Public
Being Kept in the Dark?" It was written by eight experts from the fields
of molecular genetics, agro-ecology, toxico-pathology, scientific
ethics, ecological agriculture, plant genetics, public health, and cell
biology. The report, written primarily for a European readership, is
highly critical of the biotech industry and of the European Union's
failure to evaluate glyphosate based on science rather than on political
concerns. It calls for an immediate withdrawal of Roundup and
glyphosate from the European Union until a thorough scientific
evaluation can be completed on the herbicide.
"The
public has been kept in the dark by industry and regulators about the
ability of glyphosate and Roundup to cause malformations," the report
states. "In addition, the work of independent scientists who have drawn
attention to the herbicide's teratogenic effects has been ignored,
denigrated or dismissed. These actions on the part of industry and
regulators have endangered public health."
A teratogen is any agent that can disturb the development of an embryo or a fetus. The term stems from the Greek teras, meaning monster.
In
late 2012, when Danish pig farmer Ibn Bjorn Pedersen began feeding his
pigs genetically modified soy that was contaminated with glyphosate, the
rate of birth defects soared. In early 2013, piglets were born without
an ear, with only one large eye, with a large hole in the skull, and
with a monstrously large "elephant tongue." A female piglet was born
with testes, and still others had malformed limbs, spines, skulls, and
gastrointestinal tracts. The deformed piglets all tested positive for glyphosate in their tissues.
These
birth defects in test animals and in farmer Pedersen's pigs were
similar to those reported by humans living in Argentina, where
glyphosate is sprayed heavily from airplanes as part of the production
of genetically modified soy. In the Córdoba region of Argentina, the
Gatica family resides in the barrio of Ituzaingó, only 50 meters away
from fields of GMO soy. Airplanes would regularly fly overhead, spraying
glyphosate on the crops. In the mid-1990s, Sofia Gatica's oldest son
became extremely ill. "When he was four years old, he came down with the
illness that left him temporarily paralyzed," she recalled,according to a 2013 report published by the German news organization Deutsche Welle. "He was admitted to the hospital. They told me that they didn't know what was wrong with him."
In
1999, Gatica gave birth to a baby girl. The infant died of kidney
failure on her third day of life. This tragedy prompted the grieving
mother to take action. Gatica went door-to-door, collecting information
on the health of her community. Her survey uncovered an unusually high
rate of birth defects and cancer. "Children were being born with
deformities, little babies were being born with six fingers, without a
jawbone, missing a skull bone, with kidney deformities, without an anus —
and a lot of mothers and fathers were developing cancer," she said,
according to the Deutsche Welle report.
Gatica
shared her findings with her friends and neighbors. Soon a group
formed, calling itself the Mothers of Ituzaingó. In 2012, Gatica was
awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work protecting her
community from glyphosate toxicity.
A
group of Argentine doctors, alarmed by the increases in birth defects
and cancer, joined the Mothers of Ituzaingó. These concerned physicians
formed Doctors of Fumigated Towns, which held its first national
conference in August 2010 in Córdoba, Argentina, a farming area where
agribusinesses heavily and repeatedly spray glyphosate. The Department
of Medical Sciences of the National University at Córdoba sponsored the
conference. Some 160 doctors from throughout the country attended. At
the conference, Dr. Medardo Avila Vazquez, a pediatrician and
environmental health expert, explained his concerns:
"The change in how agriculture is produced has brought, frankly, a
change in the profile of diseases. We've gone from a pretty healthy
population to one with a high rate of cancer, birth defects, and
illnesses seldom seen before. There are more than 12 million people
affected by fumigation (pesticide spraying) in the country. In these
areas, the rate of birth defects is four times higher than in the
cities."
Chaco is Argentina's poorest province and a region of intensive glyphosate spraying. Records from
the neonatal service at Chaco's Perrando Hospital show that birth
defects increased fourfold, from 19.1 to 85.3 per 10,000 people, in the
decade after intensive herbicide use began.
The
experimental animal studies, the observations in farm animals, and the
epidemiological studies in humans all bolster the conclusion that
glyphosate causes birth defects.
And
the research directly contradicts claims by Monsanto, which states on
its website that Roundup is safe "because it binds tightly to most types
of soil so it is not available for uptake by roots of nearby plants. It
works by disrupting a plant enzyme involved in the production of amino
acids that are essential to plant growth. The enzyme, EPSP synthase, is
not present in humans or animals, contributing to the low risk to human
health from the use of glyphosate according to label directions."
So
how can Roundup cause birth defects if it only affects an enzyme (EPSP
Synthase) that animals do not possess? Andrés Carrasco, an embryologist
and the former director of the molecular embryology laboratory at the
University of Buenos Aires, found the link.
Carrasco
suspected that glyphosate caused an abnormal hyperactivity in the
Vitamin A pathway. The Vitamin A signaling pathway is present in all
vertebrates from the very earliest stages of embryonic development. The
pathway turns on certain genes and turns off others. It acts like a
conductor, orchestrating the symphony of embryological development. And
there is no room for error. Genes must be turned on and off at precisely
the right instant in exact sequence. Any disturbance of the Vitamin A
pathway can result in birth defects. It is because of the enhanced risk
of birth defects that pregnant women are advised not to take any Vitamin
A (retinoic acid) containing medications.
When
Carrasco added a chemical inhibitor to his experiments, he was able to
block the glyphosate-induced hyperactivity in the Vitamin A pathway. The
birth defects no longer appeared. Mystery solved! Glyphosate had caused
birth defects by over-stimulating the Vitamin A pathway. Since this
pathway is present in all vertebrates, glyphosate has the capacity to
cause birth defects in fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals.
But Roundup doesn't just cause birth defects.
Epidemiologic
studies from the areas in Latin America where agribusinesses heavily
spray glyphosate have consistently shown spikes in cancer incidence.
Other epidemiological research has implicated glyphosate in brain cancer
in children and in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In addition, laboratory
studies of many kinds, as well as animal feeding studies, have
repeatedly linked glyphosate to cancer.
Cancer
is a complex process. One of the initial steps is damage to our DNA.
Each of our cells gets its operating instructions from DNA, and if DNA
is damaged and not repaired, it can program cells to divide rapidly and
chaotically. When that happens, cells transform into cancers.
Cells
are also vulnerable to becoming cancers during cell division. Each cell
receives from its parent cell an identical copy of DNA. If a mistake
occurs during this process, cells receive faulty DNA copies, and the
cells can then turn cancerous.
Since
both DNA damage and errors during cell division can lead to cancer,
scientists have studied whether glyphosate can cause these
abnormalities. And the results have been conclusive. For example, fruit fly larvae exposed to glyphosate have developed lethal DNA damage. And mice injected with glyphosate and with Roundup showed an increased frequency of DNA damage in the bone marrow, liver, and kidneys. Roundup damaged the DNA in blood cells of the European eel at environmentally realistic concentrations. And when researchers exposed cow lymphocytes to glyphosate, the herbicide caused DNA damage.
In
a 2004 study, researchers from the National Scientific Research Center
and the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in France exposed sea
urchin embryos to glyphosate, and found that the herbicide caused
significant errors in cell division. The scientists commented that these
abnormalities are hallmarks of cancer and delivered a particularly chilling warning.
"The concentration of glyphosate needed to cause these errors was 500
to 4,000 times lower than the dose to which humans may be exposed by
aerial spraying or handling of the herbicide."
Fernando
Manas, a biologist at the National University of Rio Cuarto in
Argentina, has been investigating the effects of pesticides for years.
He believes that glyphosate spraying is causing cancer by inducing DNA damage,
and his research has documented genetic damage in those exposed. When
Manas studied people who spray pesticide while working in the soy
industry in Córdoba, Argentina, he found significantly more DNA damage
in their lymphocytes than those in an unexposed group. Glyphosate was
one of the most commonly used pesticides by the workers.
Genetics
researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador
evaluated Ecuadorians living in the Sucumbíos district in northern
Ecuador for evidence of DNA damage. The Colombian government had heavily
sprayed the Sucumbíos district with glyphosate to eradicate illegal
coca crops. People exposed to the herbicide developed a number of acute
symptoms, including abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, heart
palpitations, headaches, dizziness, numbness, insomnia, depression,
shortness of breath, blurred vision, burning of eyes, blisters and rash.
When compared to a control group, they also showed significantly more DNA damage.
In
addition to the DNA and cell division research, scientists have
explored glyphosate's association with cancer in tissue culture studies.
In these experiments, researchers grow cells in a small dish with
nutrients and add various chemicals to test their effects.
In
2010, researchers in India exposed mouse skin cells grown in tissue
culture to glyphosate. When the herbicide was added, the cells became cancerous.
Scientists
in Thailand studied the impact of glyphosate on human
estrogen-responsive breast cancer cells in tissue culture.
Hormone-responsive breast cancer cells are known to grow when exposed to
estrogen. And according to their published results in 2013, glyphosate
also stimulated these cells to grow. The herbicide was able to bind to
the cancer's estrogen receptors, thus mimicking the effects of estrogen
and accelerating tumor growth. Scientists refer to this as "endocrine
disruption." An endocrine disruptor is a chemical that can mimic or
block a hormone. Because hormones work as chemical messengers at very
low doses, even a minute dose of an endocrine disruptor can lead to serious illness.
Glyphosate's
links to cancer have also been assessed in studies with a variety of
test animals for more than three decades. One of the earliest studies
was conducted from 1979 to 1981, under the auspices of the United
Nations Environmental Program, the International Labor Organization, and
the World Health Organization. Rats exposed to low levels of the
herbicide developedtesticular cancer.
A larger dose did not produce the cancer. Unfortunately, at the time of
the experiment, it was not understood that certain substances have more
potent effects at lower doses than at higher doses, and so the
evaluators erroneously dismissed the results.
In
a study from the Institute of Biology at the University of Caen in
France, researchers studied glyphosate's effects on rats, and found that
glyphosate doubles the incidence of mammary gland tumors.
These cancers also developed much faster in rats exposed to glyphosate
than in controls. There was also an increase in cancers of the pituitary
gland. Originally published in 2012, the report was retracted after the
biotech agriculture industry complained. But after extensive review
failed to show any fraud or problem with the data, the report was
re-published in 2014.
Human epidemiologic studies also have shown a link between glyphosate and cancer.
Argentine
physicians working in areas in which glyphosate is heavily sprayed have
reported significant increases in cancer incidence. In Sante Fe
province, which is an area of intensive herbicide spraying, a
house-to-house epidemiological study of 65,000 people found cancer
rates two to four times higher than the national average.
Two
villages in Chaco province also raised concerns about glyphosate's
association with cancer. Researchers compared residents of the heavily
sprayed farming village of Avia Terai to people in the non-sprayed
ranching village of Charadai. In the farming village, 31 percent of
residents had a family member with cancer while only 3 percent of residents in the ranching village had one.
Dr. Avila Vasquez, a doctor working in the heavily sprayed region of Barrio Ituzaingo, noted that cancer was responsible for 33 percent of the deaths in the region, while the cancer death rate in the big cities was only 19 percent.
In
addition, scientists from the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC), who have analyzed studies spanning almost three decades,
have found a positive association between organo-phosphorus herbicides,
like glyphosate, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. IARC researchers found that
the B cell lymphoma sub-type is
strongly associated with glyphosate exposure. As mentioned earlier, the
IARC published a monograph last month classifying glyphosate as
probably carcinogenic.
The
most recent research raising concerns about glyphosate's connection to
cancer is the linkage to lymphoma. Scientists from the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the US Department of Health
and Human Services, who specialize in illnesses caused by toxic
substances, published results of the US Atlantic Coast Childhood Brain
Cancer Study in 2009. That study compared children with brain cancer in
Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania to age-matched controls.
The researchers found that if either parent had been exposed to
glyphosate during the two years before the child's birth, the chances of
the child developing brain cancer doubled.
Glyphosate's
ability to produce birth defects and its association with cancer show
that the herbicide actively impacts a number of important biological
processes. Scientists have uncovered some of these impacts, and this
work may have far-reaching implications for human health.
As
noted above, Dr. Carrasco showed that glyphosate causes birth defects
in vertebrates by interfering with the Vitamin A signaling pathway. And
this pathway is part of a much larger enzyme system known as the
"Cytochrome P450" system. This enzyme system is present in most tissues
of our bodies. It is an extremely important and complex, responsible for
inactivating toxic compounds and metabolizing medications. The
Cytochrome P450 system is also important in the metabolism of sex
hormones, cholesterol, and Vitamin D. And glyphosate interferes with several of the enzymes in this vital system.
One
of the enzymes it inhibits is aromatase, which converts testosterone to
estrogen. The testosterone-estrogen balance is fundamental to normal
functioning. Glyphosate can mimic estrogen by binding to estrogen
receptors, as we saw in the case of glyphosate's ability to accelerate
breast cancer cell growth in tissue culture. The herbicide can also
prevent the chemical conversion of testosterone to estrogen.
Glyphosate's interference with aromatase may explain its association
with impaired fertility. Clearly, these endocrine disrupting effects are
cause for concern.
Glyphosate
is also toxic to many gut bacteria that are important for human health.
These bacteria live symbiotically with humans: The human digestive
tract provides a friendly environment, full of nutrients for the
bacteria, and in exchange, the bacteria perform a number of essential
functions, including the synthesis of vitamins and the detoxification of
foreign substances. The bacteria also aid immunity and help digestion
and the maintenance of the normal permeability of the gastrointestinal
tract.
And
when glyphosate kills off helpful gut bacteria, other harmful bacteria
can proliferate. Studies analyzing the gut bacteria of cows, horses, and
poultry have shown that many highly pathogenic bacteria are
glyphosate resistant. The loss of helpful bacteria may also make us
vulnerable to leaky gut syndrome, ulcerative colitis, and other
gastrointestinal maladies.
Research has suggested that
the overgrowth of harmful bacteria can also cause a deficiency in
essential amino acids and in necessary metals, like zinc and sulfur. The
change in bacterial flora may also lead to the overproduction of
ammonia.
Because
the presence of glyphosate is not tested in our food supply nor by
healthcare providers caring for the sick, implicating glyphosate in the
etiology of diseases has been difficult. There is concern, however, that
a large number of chronic diseases, including neurological illnesses,
may be triggered or exacerbated by changes in amino acid, ammonia, and
metal concentrations.
The
depletion of amino acids, for example, can result in abnormally low
levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin
regulates mood, appetite, and sleep. Its depletion may lead to
depression, insomnia, and disorders of the appetite, such as obesity and
anorexia. Dopamine depletion in a key brain area is also the hallmark
of Parkinson's disease.
Researchers
have also found elevated ammonia levels in children with autism. Sulfur
deficiency also has been associated with autism and Parkinson's
disease, and with Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Zinc deficiency, too, has been associated with autism and Alzheimer's
disease, and also with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders.
An
interesting finding from a study at the University of Leipzig showed an
unexpected association between chronic illness and glyphosate exposure.
The researchers tested urine from humans. They found that chronically
ill humans have significantly higher glyphosate residues in their urine
when compared to healthy people.
Another
chronic illness may have a direct link to glyphosate. Peasant farmers
exposed to pesticides in Central America, India, and Sri Lanka have
developed a new and fatal kidney ailment. The cause has been difficult to pin down. The illness has become known as "Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology [CKDu]."
CKDu
is now the second-leading cause of death among men in El Salvador. This
small Central American nation has the highest kidney disease mortality
rate in the world. Neighboring Honduras and Nicaragua also have
extremely high rates of death from kidney disease. More men in El
Salvador and Nicaragua are dying from CKDu than
from HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and leukemia combined. In one area of rural
Nicaragua, so many men have died that the community is called "the
Island of the Widows."
India and Sri Lanka have also been hit hard by the epidemic. More than20,000 people have died from CKDu in the past two decades in Sri Lanka. In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, more than 1,500 have been treated for the ailment since 2007.
While the exact cause of the kidney ailment remains under investigation, a leading hypothesis is
that glyphosate-metal complexes are to blame. It appears that
glyphosate's chelating properties give the chemical the ability to form
complexes with heavy metals that can be readily absorbed through the
skin, inhaled, or ingested. Scientists are concerned that these
glyphosate-metal complexes can travel through the bloodstream to the
kidney and destroy the kidney tubule, leading to renal failure and
death.
In response, both the governments of El Salvador and Sri Lanka have instituted bans on glyphosate.
Glyphosate and its degradation product amino-methyl-phosphonic acid have been found in air, rain, groundwater,
surface water, seawater, and soil. These studies show that glyphosate
persists in soil and water for long periods of time. In addition, the
amount of glyphosate detected in samples is increasing over time. The
chemical is accumulating in our environment. It also accumulates in animal tissue.
A study conducted last year at the University of Leipzig showed that
cows were excreting glyphosate in their urine. These cows also had
comparable levels of the herbicide in their organs (kidney, liver, lung,
spleen, muscle, intestine), proving that meat and dairy are a source of
glyphosate for humans.
And
glyphosate is an essential ingredient in biotech farming. Its residues
can be found in a wide variety of food products. Almost all processed
food that contains corn (including high fructose corn syrup) or soy has
glyphosate contamination. The same is now true for wheat products,
because glyphosate has been added to the wheat harvest production
method. Meat products derived from animals exposed to glyphosate in
their feed will also be glyphosate contaminated.
But
because the FDA does not test for glyphosate, we have no way to monitor
the damage that the herbicide is wreaking on human health. We know from
leaked US State Department cables that support for biotech agriculture
is official US policy despite the health risks. It appears that our best
chance of protecting our health and that of our children is a
grassroots movement to ban glyphosate use.
The
data now shows that glyphosate causes birth defects and cancer. There
is also good reason to believe that this herbicide causes or exacerbates
a large number of chronic illnesses.
There
is really no sensible alternative to banning this poison. Two of the
world's visionaries have shared their thoughts on this issue.
"Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads," wrote world famous primatologist Jane Goodall in Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating. "How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?"
The great Indian environmental leader Vandana Shiva added:
"We will continue to create the other world that we are sowing,
seed-by-seed, inch-by-inch of soil, person-by-person,
community-by-community, until all of this planet is embraced in one
circle of a resurgent life and a resurgent love."
