Glyphosate sales in Europe are increasing because industry is continually finding new uses. It is recommended throughout the crop cycle, including as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest. This leaves glyphosate residues on crops which enter the food chain of animals and humans. On non-agricultural land it is sprayed “around structures on farms, amenity and industrial areas and on railways.” In urban areas it is sprayed on vegetation on streets, pavements and major highways. Japanese Knotweed, Bracken and Rhododendron and are amongst many invasive weeds for which Roundup® is promoted. It is “approved for weed control in forestry and aquatic areas”. In the US its use has increased dramatically on GE crops because of super-weeds. Massive amounts of GM soya is being imported into Europe for animal feed and some foods, and Regulators have been allowing the industry to increase the Maximum Residue Limits for glyphosate in food and feed in imports.
Independent scientists have measured glyphosate in soil, air and rainwater. During flooding events, run-off is particularly high after urban use. The effects of pesticides are manifest at water catchment areas. However, levels of glyphosate and the neonicotinoid insecticides are not monitored in surface water, groundwater or drinking water by the US Geological Survey
National Water Quality Assessment Program, under the European Water Frame Directive, or by the UK Environment Agency.
Regulators and Industry have only tested the ‘active’ ingredient glyphosate. The commercial formulations contain an untested adjuvant which is toxic to human cells. The work of independent scientists has been rejected or suppressed by Industry, Regulators or Rapporteur Member States. Industry data are hidden on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. When scientists have exposed the dangers of GMOs many have been vilified or have lost their jobs.
Glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) residues were found in soy bean plants, leaves and grains; higher levels were found when glyphosate was sprayed several times during the crop year. In 2013, glyphosate and AMPA residues were found in the urine of more than one third of urban dwellers in 18 countries in Europe. Glyphosate must be in our food and/or drinking water. Regulators have increased the Maximum Residue Levels in food and feedstuffs of glyphosate, neonicotinoid insecticides and many other pesticides.
GMO crops were approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) after 90-day feeding studies on rats by Monsanto. Séralini’s team at CRIIGEN argued that 90 days was too short to evaluate chronic toxicity of glyphosate and GM crops. His team did a 2-year study and found Roundup®-tolerant maize and Roundup® provoked chronic hormone and sex dependent pathologies. Female mortality was 2–3 times increased mostly due to large mammary tumours and disabled pituitary. Males had liver congestions, necrosis, severe kidney nephropathies and large palpable tumours. Tumours started to occur in male rats at 4 months, one month beyond the time for which GMs were tested. When the paper was published in October 2012, industry and GMO scientists cried “fraud!” However, EFSA has eventually agreed on 2-year feeding studies for new GMOs. Here is a 12-minute YouTube made by Séralini’s team over the 2-year period of testing in rats.
Evidence was published in 2013 (a combined study from Australia and the US) that pigs fed a GM diet had abnormal organs, compared with those on a non-GM diet. GM-fed females had on average a 25% heavier uterus than non-GM-fed females and the level of severe inflammation in stomachs was markedly higher in pigs fed on the GM diet. This confirmed the experiences of some farmers that mortality was higher in sows on GM feed compared with non-GM. Sows had digestive problems, some died and the piglets had diarrhea. Reproductive problems were manifested by abortions, deformities in new born pigs and smaller litters. They required more antibiotics. Studies of the effects on pathogens in farm animals showed that glyphosate destroys beneficial bacteria and allows harmful ones, such as salmonella and clostridium, to flourish. This could account for outbreaks of food poisoning in humans that continue to occur. In the search for the causes of serious diseases of entire herds of animals in northern Germany, especially cattle, glyphosate has repeatedly been detected in the urine, faeces, milk and feed of the animals.
Glyphosate causes environmental damage to earthworms, songbirds, small mammals and bees. Glyphosate, an endocrine-disrupting herbicide, and the systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, cause immune suppression in insects and mammals. Both are highly toxic to aquatic organisms, amphibians, bees and fish.
US Kid’s Health Report October 20121. A Generation in Jeopardy: How pesticides are undermining our children’s health & intelligence p 26
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