Junk Science? Number 58: Glyphosphate in Roundup and very disturbing research about Parkinson’s, cancer and other chronic diseases.
Glyphosphate in Roundup and very disturbing research about Parkinson’s, cancer and other chronic diseases.
A new research report by Anthony Samsel, a retired science consultant, and Dr. Stephanie Seneff, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has some very disturbing conclusions for the weed killer Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosphate, widely used on GMO products which have been engineered to withstand the large doses that are used to kill the weeds.
In April, the weedkiller was linked to Parkinson’s with an article in the Daily Mail covering the research in the UK (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315057/Is-worlds-popular-weed-killer-causing-Parkinsons-New-study-shows-Roundup-herbicide-linked-cancer-infertility.html#ixzz2WjxIGpZV).
‘Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body,’ the study says.
‘We have hit upon something very important that needs to be taken seriously and further investigated,’ Seneff said.
The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a standard registration review of glyphosate and has set a deadline of 2015 for determining if glyphosate use should be limited. The study is among many comments submitted to the agency.
Manufacturer Monsanto has always argued that Roundup is safe and “minimally toxic” to humans. But the research report in the journal Entropy, tells a different story:
i. Glyphosphate residues, found in many everyday foods due to its use with GM sugar, corn, wheat and soy, ‘enhance the damaging effects of other food-borne chemical residues and toxins in the environment to disrupt normal body functions and induce disease’. “Negative impact on the body is insidious and manifests slowly over time as inflammation damages cellular systems throughout the body.”
ii. Glyphosphate greatly affects CYP proteins (for example, cytochrome P450). These were, for example, the focus of attention for Professors Potter and Burke in their work on Salvestrols.
CYP proteins can perform many functions, for example detoxifying ‘foreign’ chemical compounds in your body.
CYP1B1 is directly linked to cancer; even being used as a marker for the disease.
iii. Glyphosphate also destroys gut bacteria and thus the important bioactive products they release from the foods you eat or, indeed, make themselves. With glyphosphate poisoning the bacteria make reduced supplies of amino acids and this plus the glyphosphate interferes with the sulphur system in the body – essential in the fight against cancer and many diseases from gastro-intestinal diseases to MS.
‘Glyphosphate’s claimed mechanism of action in plants is the disruption of the shikimate pathway, which is involved with the synthesis of the essential aromatic amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan. The currently accepted dogma is that glyphosphate is not harmful to humans or to any mammals because the shikimate pathway is absent in all animals.
However, this pathway is present in gut bacteria, which play an important and heretofore largely overlooked role in human physiology’, said the authors.
Readers should look at the CANCERactive article on The Microbiome and its importance to your good health (Link: http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3431).
Readers might also like to read about Salvestrols. (Link: http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3205)
Sources:
1. Green Media info: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/lethality-roundup-weedkiller-may-extend-beyond-plants-humans-study-shows
2. Nation of Change: http://www.nationofchange.org/monsanto-s-roundup-herbicide-may-be-most-important-factor-development-autism-and-other-chronic-disea
3. Mercola: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/09/monsanto-roundup-herbicide.aspx
