Roundup News

 Bayer purchased Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup, for 63 billion dollars in 2018. That was a smart move by somebody and a dumb move by Bayer. Bayer is now faced with 30,000 lawsuits by individuals claiming they have been harmed by Roundup. Bayer attempted to make a 2 billion dollar settlement and get the court of grant immunity from all future lawsuits in a recent court case. The judge rejected the attempted settlement.

The precedent for legal immunity from the consequences of damage from products was established in 1986 when pharmaceutical firms were granted freedom from dealing with the consequences of damage done to individuals from vaccinations. In this case with Bayer they ploy did not work.

Bayer is considering pulling Roundup off the consumer market but continuing to sell it to agribusiness which would mean that it would still be on and in the food people eat. The product may also have a label that it is a "probable human carcinogen" which was the conclusion of a study by the World Health Organization in 2015.

Bayer will continue to attempt to find a way out of the thousands of lawsuits it is faced with.

Reference:

Article on Roundup Lawsuits

Glyphosate & Sperm Quality

     Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's most popular herbicide. A recent study has shown that a brief 8 day exposure of male rats to Roundup resulted in abnormal sperm and an alteration of the enzyme aromatase.
     The level of exposure was similar to levels found in water after agricultural spraying. Altering the aromatase enzyme can result in altering the balance between androgen and estrogen, the male and female sex hormones. Aromatase is also known as estrogen synthase since it converts testosterone to estrogen. Aromatase inhibitors are used to treat endometrial disorders, uterine fibroids, and breast cancer. Elevated aromatase levels appear to be a major contributor to benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostate cancer.
References:
Cassault-Meyer, Estelle, et al., An acute exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide alters aromatase levels in testis and sperm nuclear quality, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, July 2014; 38(1):131-140.
Ellem, S.J., et al., Aromatase and prostate cancer, Minerva Endocrinol., March 2006; 31(1):1-12.

Chronic Kidney Disease: CKDu

     CKD stands for Chronic Kidney Disease. The "u" designates cause unknown. An epidemic of this disease has been unleashed in central America, India and Sri Lanka. El Salvador has the highest mortality from kidney disease in the world. More men die from kidney disease in El Salvador and Nicaragua than die from AIDS, diabetes and leukemia. So many men have died in one rural patch of Nicaragua that the area is known as "The Island of the Widows." Over 20,000 people in Sri Lanka have died from CKDu over two decades.
     Dr. Channa Jayasumana and his associates from Sri Lanka have put forward the hypothesis that the culprit is glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. The chemical was originally patented as a chelating agent. The theory is that glyphosate binds toxic metals like arsenic and cadmium. The glyphosate coat acts like a Trojan horse allowing the toxic metals to escape detection by the liver. They then enter the blood stream and are released in the acid environment of the kidney, destroying the kidney.
     El Salvador banned glyphosate in 2013 and Sri Lanka banned the product in 2014. The US government has threatened to withhold almost 300 million in aid for El Salvador unless they buy glyphosate resistant GMO seed from Monsanto.
     Half of Monsanto's yearly profit comes from sales of either Roundup or GMO seeds designed to be Roundup resistant. The US government is heavily influenced by Monsanto and pushes genetically modified foods at every opportunity.
     The researchers in Sri Lanka found an association between hardness of ground water, arsenic and kidney disease. Eighty-five percent of the cases of this new disease were middle aged male farmers. Almost all victims were drinking well water. The higher the mineral content of the water the greater the number of cases of the disease. Victims of the disease displayed an abnormal spotty pigmentation of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. You can click the link below for a PowerPoint presentation on the problem with photographs of this spotty pigmentation part way through the document. Very high levels of arsenic were found in the urine and hair of individuals suffering with CKDu.
     The arsenic was found in rice coming from the area where the disease was found. Arsenic was also found in drinking water and soils. The researchers found that the arsenic was a contaminant in 50% of pesticides used on crops and was also present in super phosphate fertilizers. The researchers suggested that cadmium toxicity could also be involved.Reference:
http://www.alternet.org/environment/monsantos-linked-fatal-kidney-disease-epidemic-could-it-topple-company
Click here for link showing spotty pigmentation.

GMO's and Tumor Formation

     Long term testing on Genetically Modified Foods and Roundup are almost impossible to find. September 2012 may go down in the history books due to the publication of testing on Roundup and GMO corn. Animals were exposed to 1 part per billion Roundup in their drinking water or to a diet which consisted of 11%, 22% or 33% GMO corn. All treated groups died 2-3 times more than control animals given pure water and corn which had not been genetically modified.
     Tumor incidence soared in animals exposed to GMO's and Roundup. In female animals no tumors appeared in control groups for 14 months. Tumors appeared in 10-30% of the animals in treated groups. By the 24th month 50-80% of females in all treated groups had up to 3 tumors per animal. Only 30% of the control grouip had cancers. The most common tumor in female animals was breast cancer.
     Male animals developed massive tumors. Most tumors were in the skin. Other organs affected by the test substances were the kidney, liver and digestive tract.
    The authors of the study commented, "The first large detectable tumors occurred at 4 and 7 months into the study in males and females respectively, underlining the inadequacy of the standard 90 day feeding trials for evaluati8ng GM crop and food toxicity."
     Any GMO study of this nature is going to be highly controversial because Monsanto, the key player behind GMO foods, is one of American's most successful and profitable companies.
    Russia suspended the import and use of American GM corn the day after the announcement of the European study discussed above. The European Food Safety Authority ordered its own review of the research. GM corn is not fed to people in Europe but it is used to feed animals. Pro-GM scientists have been lining up to undermire the French experiments and criticize the way they were conducted. Monsanto, manufacturer of the GM corn, said it did not think the French study would affect its license to export the corn to Europe.
References:
Mail Online Response to GM Study
Reuters Article
Washington Post Article
Seralini, Gilles-Eric, Clair, Emillie, et al., Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize, Chem. Toxicol. (2012).
Click here for the study including photographs of the tumors on animals fed GMO corn or water with Roundup.