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Glyphosate, the pesticide used in various agricultural crops is controversial because it is harmful to health

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Famous and controversial, the herbicide glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl-glycine) is one of the ten most consumed pesticides in Brazil. Its active ingredient was the most used in 2013, according to the Phytosanitary Pesticides System (Agrofit).

Studies show that this substance is widely spread throughout the environment, contaminating food, atmosphere, soil and groundwater; it can cause human intoxication even when consumed in low doses.

Glyphosate eliminates any plants to which it is applied, regardless of the species or part of the plant. Used in several agricultural crops around the world, the herbicide is applied in several commercial formulations, the main one being the roundup in.

Studies correlate glyphosate consumption with the onset of diseases such as cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, microcephaly, gluten intolerance, hormonal changes, Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, cancer of bone, colon cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, among others.

Economy

The global glyphosate market was valued at $5.46 billion in 2012 and is expected to reach $8.79 billion by 2019. Its sales took off in the late 1990s after Monsanto created its Roundup Ready crop brand , which have been genetically engineered to tolerate the chemical, allowing farmers to spray their fields to kill weeds, leaving the crop unharmed. Today, the harvests Roundup Ready they represent about 90% of the soybeans and 70% of the corn and cotton grown in the United States.

contaminated food

Glyphosate is applied to rice, coffee, sugarcane, corn, pasture, soybean, sorghum, wheat and other crops. It is a highly toxic product and its use is prohibited in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway, among others.

There is a huge scientific and political debate surrounding glyphosate. The controversy gained momentum in 2015 after the oncology research arm of the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the classification of the substance another degree of risk. In rats, "enough evidence" of the relationship between exposure to glyphosate and the development of tumors in the urinary system, pancreas and skin has been identified.

These studies generated great debates about the permission of its commercialization. In Europe, in 2016, there was no consensus on the ban on the use of the herbicide, leading to the extension of its concession for use for another 18 months, awaiting the conclusions of the European Chemicals Agency, but there are already bans on its use. -commercial in public areas and serious restrictions on agricultural use. A campaign involving non-governmental organizations from 15 European countries is fighting for this permission not to be renewed.

In countries like France and Germany, the use of transgenic products is no longer allowed, therefore, there is no commercialization of products treated with glyphosate, since only transgenic products are resistant to such poisons. Until 2022, in France, the executive branch will ban all uses of glyphosate, including agricultural uses.

Brazilian regulation does not bring security

US regulators consider glyphosate to be an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (1.75 mg/kg/day). In the European Union, this limit is 0.3 mg/kg/day. These tolerance levels were defined based on studies sponsored by the pesticide manufacturing corporations themselves and kept confidential in the name of industrial secrecy. A team of international scientists calls for a much lower ADI of 0.025 mg/kg/day – 12 times lower than currently defined in Europe and 70 times lower than allowed in the US.

In the US, in 2014, after the disclosure that glyphosate is possibly carcinogenic and after studies have found traces of the herbicide in water, food, urine and breast milk, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , its acronym in English) announced demands on the implementation of a management plan for glyphosate .

In Brazil, the intake limit is 0.042 mg/Kg/day, with a detail: glyphosate is not included in Anvisa's tests for pesticide residues in food, even though its commercialization has increased, tripling its imports in 2016.

Studies

Several companies claim that glyphosate has low toxicity to animals, including humans, stating that many studies carried out by authorities over the past 40 years have shown no unacceptable risk to human health. However, what public authorities do is only evaluate the studies carried out by companies that apply to do them in order to obtain regulatory authorization for their products.

Many of these studies follow outdated protocols, designed 50-100 years ago to assess risks from acute exposure to raw venoms, and are not suitable for revealing risks of low exposure over a long period. These researches are also kept as an industrial secret, so they cannot be examined by public or independent scientists.

In contrast, numerous surveys conducted by scientists independent of the industry show that glyphosate, the presumed active ingredient of roundup, it is toxic . In addition, commercial formulations of glyphosate herbicides such as roundup, contain added ingredients (adjuvants) and are more toxic than glyphosate alone. Therefore, safety guarantees do not apply to complete formulations as they are chemically and biologically different substances.

A test carried out by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to check for the presence of glyphosate residues in foods found alarming levels of contamination in several products, showing the inefficiency of regulation of pesticide residues. Another study titled "Glyphosate: unsafe in any dish, requested by organizations Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project, also gathered independent surveys, carried out in other countries, which reached the same results.

The tests promoted by Food Democracy Now! revealed alarming concentrations of glyphosate in many popular foods. Salgadinhos Doritos, by Pepsico, corn flakes by Kellogg's and Oreo biscuit, by Kraft Foods, obtained results between 289.47 and 1,125.3 parts per billion (ppb). Glyphosate is already likely to do damage at very low levels, such as 0.1 ppb. At 0.005 ppb, there is kidney and liver damage in rats, due to changes in the functions of 4,000 genes. If we compare these two data we realize how susceptible we are to the effects of glyphosate poisoning, leading independent studies to conclude that there is no safe level of glyphosate for human and animal health!

Serious Illnesses Caused by Glyphosate

Glyphosate ingestion is associated with gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, autism, infertility, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, microcephaly, gluten intolerance and hormonal changes. And the list keeps growing.

In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) Cancer Research Agency (IARC) declared glyphosate to be “likely to cause human cancer”. The decision was based on research by 17 cancer experts from 11 countries, who came together to assess the carcinogenic potential of five pesticides. The cancers that were of most concern were: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Bone Cancer, Colon Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Liver Cancer, Melanoma, Pancreatic Cancer, and Thyroid Cancer. In early 2013, documents were revealed showing that Monsanto had long covered up the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate.

Its use is also related to the development of microcephaly. In 2009, the Argentine geneticist and researcher, Andrés Carrasco, published a report showing the serious effects of glyphosate on the occurrence of the birth of babies with microcephaly and other deformities.

A growing body of scientific evidence points to glyphosate as an endocrine disruptor. For more than two decades, studies have shown that even a low level of exposure to certain chemicals, glyphosate among them, can alter the production and reception of vital hormones for the body, allowing the development of reproductive problems, miscarriages and reducing fertility . Changes in hormone levels can also result in premature onset of puberty, obesity, diabetes, problems with immune function and behavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

New researches generate growing concern about the likely effects of this herbicide on the balance of the gastrointestinal microbiome, or beneficial intestinal bacteria, associating its consumption with an increase in the number of pathogenic species. Some of the consequences are irritable bowel syndrome and gluten intolerance.

A study released by the Argentine Association of Environmental Journalists, published in March by the American Society for Microbiology in the scientific journal mBio Magazine, correlates the herbicide glyphosate - and two other herbicides widely used in agriculture - with the development of super-resistant bacteria. The study showed that exposure to commercial herbicides can change the way bacteria respond to a range of commonly used antibiotics.

Scientists have also found that chronically ill people have "significantly higher levels of glyphosate in their urine than healthy people." It was also found that people with a conventional diet have much more residues of this pesticide than those who eat organic food.

Contamination everywhere

A study of Food Democracy Now! showed that the use of glyphosate in the US led to large-scale environmental contamination. Recently, residues of this herbicide have been discovered in water, in various foods consumed in everyday life, in human urine, in breast milk and in beer, among others.

The herbicide is so widespread in the environment that, according to a survey by the US Geological Survey (USGS), its presence has been detected in more than 75% of air and rainwater samples in the state of Mississippi, in the US, together with that of the metabolite AMPA, a toxic derivative of the degradation of glyphosate in the environment.

It is known that aerial spraying of this herbicide takes it not only to crops, but also to cups of water and clouds, through evaporation, which can precipitate in distant places, thus causing its distribution in places far away from its application.

Glyphosate adheres strongly to soil and is therefore not expected to pass into groundwater. However, it has the potential to contaminate surface water due to the possible erosion of sediment or suspended particles that have been washed into the surface water and that contain glyphosate. Furthermore, pesticides do not break down easily either in water or by photolysis. Its mineralization is favored by the contact with the soil particles in which it adheres, making its degradation even more difficult, and glyphosate tends to persist for longer in aerobic conditions than in anaerobic conditions.

A monitoring study carried out in Denmark between 1999 and 2009 revealed that glyphosate could be transported from contaminated land to groundwater and rivers through infiltration of rainwater (with precipitation greater than 50 mm/day).

In addition, its use causes an increase in the number of glyphosate resistant “weeds” which leads many farmers to use the herbicide even more so that there is a higher concentration of glyphosate being consumed.

So, is there a way to avoid it?

There is a situation of lack of control due to the lack of supervision, corruption and the fact that the large multinationals that manufacture these poisons dominate the media, are responsible for almost all studies and have great influence on decisions regarding their use.

Unfortunately, many studies are stifled by these companies and their products continue to be highly commercialized, rapidly destroying the environment, human health and affecting future generations.

As contamination by this product in foods cannot be removed by washing and is not eliminated by cooking, freezing or processing food, there is no other way to avoid it than not to consume foods that contain it. So opt for organic consumption (vegetables free of pesticides and non-GMOs). To learn more about organic farming take a look at the article: "Learn what organic farming is, its benefits and advantages".

There are alternatives on the market to combat pests and weeds, such as natural acids based on vinegar and citric acid. These are some of the methods used in organic agriculture.

Watch this video by Graciela Vizcay Gomez about the lies told around glyphosate.