by Arjun Walia, Collective Evolution
On March 16th, Moms Across America received results from a test conducted by Microbe Inotech Lab of St. Louis, Missouri that showed 100 percent of the wines tested (10) contained the chemical glyphosate.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, which is the most widely used herbicide on the planet. In the past two decades alone, many billions of pounds of this stuff have been sprayed all across America, and billions more all over the world.
Moms Across America has initiated multiple tests of glyphosate in water, urine, breast milk, baby formula, and more. Findings have also been reported in cereal, bread, honey, cow’s milk, soy source, pet food, and beer.
According to their report:
All ten of the wines tested positive for the chemical glyphosate . . . The highest level of glyphosate detected was up to 28.4 times higher than the other wines at 18.74 ppb from a 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon from a conventional, chemically farmed vineyard. The lowest level was from a biodynamic and organic vineyard, 2013 Syrah, which has never been sprayed according to the owner, with a level of .659 ppb. An organic wine from 2012 mixed red wine grapes, had 0.913 ppb of glyphosate.
Glyphosate seems to be everywhere. In a German study conducted in 2013, significant amounts of glyphosate were discovered in the urine of people and animals from all across Europe. (source)(source) Analysis of the urine samples found that all who were tested had concentrations of glyphosate at 5 to 20 times more than the limit for drinking water. The study examined the urine of city workers, journalists, and lawyers, none of whom had had direct contact with glyphosate, making the presence of the chemical in their urine alarming, to say the least. Another study, also cited in the source above, collected urine samples from 18 different countries from all over the world and arrived at similar results.
A study conduced by the U.S. Geological Survey titled “Pesticides in Mississippi Air and Rain: A Comparison Between 1995 and 2007” revealed that Roundup herbicide (aka glyphosate) and its toxic degradation byproduct AMPA were found in over 75% of the air and rain samples tested from Mississippi in 2007. Researchers weren’t surprised, considering 2 million kilograms of glyphosate were applied statewide in 2007. (source)(source)
“Children today are sicker than they were a generation ago. From childhood cancers to autism, birth defects and asthma, a wide range of childhood diseases and disorders are on the rise. Our assessment of the latest science leaves little room for doubt; pesticides are one key driver of this sobering trend.” October 2012 report by Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA) (source)(source)
Why This Is Concerning
“It is commonly believed that Roundup is among the safest pesticides. . . . Despite its reputation, Roundup was by far the most toxic among the herbicides and insecticides tested. This inconsistency between scientific fact and industrial claim may be attributed to huge economic interests, which have been found to falsify health risk assessments and delay health policy decisions.” – R. Mesnage et al., Biomed Research International, Volume 2014 (2014) article ID 179691
Although the World Health Organization recently admitted to Glyphosate being carcinogenic, several disconcerting health related effects of glyphosate have been known about for many years. Various scientists and researchers around the world have been sounding the alarm for some time now, so it’s unfortunate that this type of information only hits the mainstream when a major organization charged with the maintenance of our health (WHO) finally announces it.
What’s even more disturbing is the fact that studies have shown that RoundUp herbicide is over one hundred times more toxic than regulators claim. For example, a study published in the journal Biomedical Research International showed that Roundup herbicide is 125 times more toxic than its active ingredient glyphosate studied in isolation. You can read more about that here. The eye opening abstract reads as follows:
Pesticides are used throughout the world as mixtures called formulations. They contain adjuvants, which are often kept confidential and are called inerts by the manufacturing companies, plus a declared active principle, which is usually tested alone. We tested the toxicity of 9 pesticides, comparing active principles and their formulations, on three human cell lines. Glyphosate, isoproturon, fluroxypyr, pirimicarb, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, tebuconazole, epoxiconazole, and prochloraz constitute, respectively, the active principles of 3 major herbicides, 3 insecticides, and 3 fungicides. Despite its relatively benign reputation, Roundup was among the most toxic herbicides and insecticides tested. Most importantly, 8 formulations out of 9 were up to one thousand times more toxic than their active principles. Our results challenge the relevance of the acceptable daily intake for pesticides because this norm is calculated from the toxicity of the active principle alone. Chronic tests on pesticides may not reflect relevant environmental exposures if only one ingredient of these mixtures is tested alone. (source)
Also disturbing is the fact that, in 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency raised the allowable concentrations of glyphosate on food crops, edible oils, and animal feed. (source)
Not many people in North America are even aware of how many countries have banned the use of glyphosate, or the grisly discoveries which prompted the bans. For example, Sri Lanka decided to completely ban glyphosate from their country after discovering its link to deadly kidney disease. (source) This is just one of dozens of countries to do so.
Glyphosate has been implicated in a wide array of diseases and ailments, from Alzehimer’s and Parkinson’s to autism, cancer, and birth defects. There is an enormous amount of scientific literature on this specific subject, much more than what is presented here. If you are still skeptical about the dangers of glyphosate, we encourage you to do your research.
Arjun Walia
I joined the CE team in 2010 shortly after finishing university and have been grateful for the fact that I have been able to do this ever since :) There are many things happening on the planet that don't resonate with me, and I wanted to do what I could to play a role in creating change. It's been great making changes in my own life and creating awareness and I look forward to more projects that move beyond awareness and into action and implementation. So stay tuned :) arjun@collective-evolution.com
