Cancer & Glyphosate: What You Need to Know
Cancer & Glyphosate: What You Need to Know
Glyphosate is the herbicide in RoundUp, the #1 used weed-killer on the planet. It was created by Monsanto. Not to leave anyone out, glyphosate is also found in products by Syngenta and Dow. In fact, even though glyphosate causes cancer, it's in 750 products in the USA alone.
Even diluted up to 450-fold, glyphosate causes cancer.
In fact, farmers are suing Monsanto because they believe glyphosate caused their cancer.
Astonishingly, despite all the scientific evidence that glyphosate causes cancer, your neighbors spray it on their lawns, your GMO farmers spray it on your food. Your city sprays it on sidewalks, medians, cracks in roadways, driveways, around the pool... everywhere a weed can grow, most humans spray RoundUp.
Glyphosate is so heavily used on the planet that, even though GMO* cropss are banned in most European countries, glyphosate was found in the urine of all 48 members of Parliament who tested for it. And in higher concentrations than is allowed in their drinking water!
*GMO seeds are the justification for using so much glyphosate. GMO seeds are genetically altered so that the plants that grow from these seeds can withstand a drenching shower of poisonous glyphosate and survive, while the weeds around these plants die. Hence the name "Frankenseeds".
All this, even though the WHO's IARC, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, confirmed in 2016 that, yes, glyphosate causes cancer. Here's the glyphosate section copied from one of their reports (click here to see the full IARC report on glyphosate and cancer):
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide, currently with the highest production volumes of all herbicides. It is used in more than 750 different products for agriculture, forestry, urban, and home applications. Its use has increased sharply with the development of genetically modified glyphosate-resistant crop varieties. Glyphosate has been detected in air during spraying, in water, and in food. There was limited evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of glyphosate. Case-control studies of occupational exposure in the USA,14 Canada,6 and Sweden7 reported increased risks for non-Hodgkin lymphoma that persisted after adjustment for other pesticides. The AHS cohort did not show a significantly increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In male CD-1 mice, glyphosate induced a positive trend in the incidence of a rare tumour, renal tubule carcinoma. A second study reported a positive trend for haemangiosarcoma in male mice.15 Glyphosate increased pancreatic islet-cell adenoma in male rats in two studies. A glyphosate formulation promoted skin tumours in an initiation-promotion study in mice.
Glyphosate has been detected in the blood and urine of agricultural workers, indicating absorption. Soil microbes degrade glyphosate to aminomethylphosphoric acid (AMPA). Blood AMPA detection after poisonings suggests intestinal microbial metabolism in humans. Glyphosate and glyphosate formulations induced DNA and chromosomal damage in mammals, and in human and animal cells in vitro. One study reported increases in blood markers of chromosomal damage (micronuclei) in residents of several communities after spraying of glyphosate formulations.16 Bacterial mutagenesis tests were negative. Glyphosate, glyphosate formulations, and AMPA induced oxidative stress in rodents and in vitro. The Working Group classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A). [Emphasis mine.]
The continued confirmation from the IARC combined with the PubMed studies (linked to in the 450-fold article above) and all the investigation by Jeffrey Smith at Responsible Technology is good enough for me. I still won't be using glyphosate on my property and I won't be buying any GMO food (because it's ALL routinely sprayed with glyphosate).
Non-GMO foods sprayed with glyphosate, too
I also won't be buying any of the non-GMO foods routinely sprayed with glyphosate, like wheat and sugarcane. Yes, your bread and your cane sugar are both glyphosate-contaminated. See my post here and Sarah Pope's post here.
For a close-up look at what eating GMOs does to your body -- because of the glyphosate contamination, both genetically and from spraying -- watch Genetic Roulette on Amazon. You can buy Genetic Roulette here for $19.99 and get several bonuses (including PSAs for your use).
IMO, there are waaaaaaay too many chemicals surrounding us today, in our food supply, in our water (chromium 6 was just found in tap water) and in our immediate environments. Not surprisingly, cancer has become an epidemic: 50% of males will have cancer in their lifetimes, 33% of women. Of all ages. Coincidence? We think not.
How to Protect Yourself and Your Families
In our house, we connect the dots and behave accordingly. We eat the WAPF way: real nutrient-dense food as close to how our great-grandparents ate as possible. That includes raw milk, organically grown plant foods, and pastured meats and eggs. We also use all-natural organically-grown essential oils for our cleaning and health needs.
Does living and eating clean cost us a little more? About 15% more, that is all -- my husband has kept a close eye on our household budget since we've been married ('91). We make up for that and more by buying cheap everywhere else: clothes, gas, cars, shoes, furniture, appliances, dishes... nothing else is as important as the fuel we put in our bodies and living a chemical-free life.
Certainly more important than the apparent scourge of weeds.
Sources:
2106 Full report on glyphosate: go here http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/vol112/, click the glyphosate link at the bottom for the pdf. The evaluation is on page 78.
2015 Lancet report http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(15)70134-8/fulltext
2106 IARC on glyphosate https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/iarcnews/2016/glyphosate_IARC2016.php
#MEPee test http://www.ecowatch.com/results-of-glyphosate-pee-test-are-in-and-its-not-good-news-1891129531.html
Even diluted up to 450 times, glyphosate causes cancer http://dailyhealthpost.com/research-roundup-diluted-by-450-fold-still-remains-toxic/
