Monsanto's Roundup & Disease

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup. Its usage on crops to control weeds in the United States and elsewhere has increased dramatically in the past two decades.

Roundup is used extensively on genetically modified crops include corn, soy, canola, cottonseed and sugar beets. Roundup is also used on wheat as a drying agent soon before harvest.

The increase in glyphosate usage in the United States is extremely well correlated with the concurrent increase in the death rate of multiple diseases, including cancers. These include thyroid cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer and myeloid leukemia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) revised its assessment of glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential in March 2015, relabeling it as a “probable carcinogen”. Many other cancers also show more modest risk increases. A study of rats fed GM maize and/or Roundup in their water over their entire lifespan, revealed significantly increased risk of massive mammary tumors in the females, along with kidney and liver damage in the males.

Glyphosate Has Estrogenic Effects Even at Low Doses:

The hormone estrogen was declared to be a human carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program in 2003. Glyphosate has been demonstrated to have estrogenic effects at minute dosages, in concentrations of parts per trillion and it did so through a binding affinity to the estrogen receptor and inducing activation of the estrogen response element.

Glyphosate May Disrupt the Balance of Your Gut Microbes:

Glyphosate is toxic to many microbes as well as to most plants and one likely effect of chronic low-dose oral exposure to glyphosate is a disruption of the balance among gut microbes towards an over-representation of pathogens. This leads to a chronic inflammatory state in the gut, as well as an impaired gut barrier and many other consequences. It has become increasingly apparent that chronic inflammation increases cancer risk.

Monsanto’s Early Studies:

The EPA was petitioned for copies of documents originating from Monsanto, dating from the 1970s through the 1980s, which described experiments conducted by Monsanto to evaluate whether glyphosate is safe for human consumption.

This is a summary of those documents:

Kidney Damage - Changes in the kidneys associated with chronic progressive neuropathy were noted mostly in male, but also in some female animals.

Tumorigenicity - A 26-month long-term study in rats conducted by Bio/dynamics revealed multitudes of tumors in glands and organs. They occurred (from highest to lowest incidence) in the following organs: pituitary, thyroid, thymus, mammary glands, testes, kidney, pancreas, liver and lungs.

Bioaccumulation - Residues were present in bone, marrow, blood and glands including the thyroid, testes, and ovaries, as well as major organs, including the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, spleen and stomach.

Evidence of DNA Damage from the Research Literature:

According to the IARC’s report, while there exists only limited direct evidence of carcinogenicity of glyphosate in humans, strong evidence exists to show that glyphosate can operate through two key features of carcinogens: induction of chromosomal damage and induction of oxidative stress.

Pancreatic Cancer - Pancreatic cancer is one of the cancers whose incidence is going up in step with the increase in glyphosate usage on corn and soy crops.

Cataracts and Melanoma - Monsanto’s own studies revealed increased risk of cataracts following exposure to Roundup. An age-adjusted analysis revealed an 80% increased risk of melanoma associated with glyphosate use in a study on pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina.

Breast Cancer - An in vitro study has confirmed that glyphosate stimulates proliferation of human breast cancer cells when present in concentrations of parts per trillion.

Overall, the evidence of the carcinogenicity of glyphosate is compelling.

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