Access to all articles, new health classes, discounts in our store, and more!
The Glyphosate Plague: Disrupting Our Soil and Endangering Our Health
“Modern agriculture” produces more calories per capita today than ever in history, and those calories have translated into the epidemic of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes seen worldwide. Chronic disease (including the above conditions) has now surpassed infective disease as the leading cause of death in developing countries. These calories are empty calories. Analysis of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient testing of foods, comparing 1941 data to that of 1991, shows a decline in food nutrient value of anywhere from 15 to 76 percent. British Ministry of Agriculture studies show a similar nutrient decline.[1,2] Paralleling this food nutrient decline has been the increase in crop loss due to pests and disease, mirrored by the increased use of chemical weapons on the farm and in the greenhouse. As soils became more and more depleted, weeds became more problematic for farmers. Herbicide applications have largely replaced cultivation, leading to continuously increased rates of application and to herbicide-resistant weeds. The same holds true for insecticides, fungicides, and all the other ’cides.
This brings us to the advent of genetically engineered crops and the worldwide drive to use glyphosate-based herbicides. Most genetically engineered crops are designed to survive the application of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup. These crops are termed GR, glyphosate resistant, or RR, Roundup Ready.
Glyphosate was originally patented by Stauffer Chemical on December 8, 1964, (patent no. 3,160,632) as a chelator and was initially used as a descaling agent. Descaling agents are chemicals used to clean out the calcium and other mineral deposits that build up in pipes and boilers of home and commercial hot water systems. They are chelators, meaning their molecular structure is such that they grab onto metal ions of calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and so forth, and dissolve them away. Chelating agents are used in many applications, in addition to descaling, as they are very effective metal binders and allow the metals to be water soluble and easily transportable in a liquid solution. Some chelating agents, such as EDTA, are used to remove toxic heavy metals (e.g., lead, cadmium, and arsenic), while others, such as organic acids and amino acids, are used to improve trace nutrient transport into plants.
It was serendipitously found that the descaling agent N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine, or glyphosate, also appeared to kill weeds. Subsequently, Monsanto acquired glyphosate from Stauffer and then received a patent (no. 3,455,675) on July 15, 1969, for its use as an herbicide. It was found that glyphosate blocks the EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) enzyme in plant metabolism, and it was “accepted” that this was the mechanism of action for plant “kill.”
Conveniently not mentioned was the mechanism by which glyphosate disrupts the EPSPS enzyme found in plants and many microorganisms. Enzymes are functional proteins that act as catalysts in biological factories, such as in the manufacture of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Think of them as the “carpenters” that assemble the fat, protein, or carbohydrate “house.”
All enzymes have an “ignition key” that activates them. These keys are most commonly either vitamins or trace minerals. If the key is deactivated or removed, the enzyme cannot function any more than your car can start without the key in the ignition. The mechanism by which glyphosate disrupts the EPSPS enzyme in plants and microorganisms is by chelating the manganese metal cofactor of this enzyme. In other words, it steals the “ignition key” of the enzyme. The significance of this is that glyphosate, the chelator, targets nutritive cations (manganese, zinc, copper, iron, calcium, magnesium, cobalt, etc.) in plants, microorganisms, animals, and humans. Glyphosate is first and foremost a broad-spectrum chelating agent.
Details are very important. Glyphosate’s herbicidal characteristics do not come from its direct “kill” of plants. Plants grown in sterile soil and sprayed with glyphosate/Roundup do not die. Fundamentally, the herbicidal effect of glyphosate is ultimately due to soil pathogens gaining access to the “weed,” thanks to glyphosate’s weakening of the plant and killing of beneficial microbes by the chelation of manganese and other trace elements.
Glyphosate kills important beneficial soil microbes.
Let me repeat: the actual “kill” mechanism of the “herbicide” glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, comes from soil-borne pathogens promoted by glyphosate after it kills the beneficial microbial competitors and weakens the plant’s immune system. Glyphosate kills (by chelating vital trace elements) important beneficial soil microbes. This is a very “uncomfortable” fact for the industry and academics beholden to the industry, because glyphosate’s killing of beneficial microorganisms and promoting of pathogens leads to greater disease pressure on plants and consequent economic loss for farmers.
Industry spokesmen and beholden academics routinely deny that glyphosate works in this fashion; however, patent no. 7,771,736, issued August 10, 2010, was for glyphosate as an antimicrobial. One group of beneficial microbes named in the patent as being directly killed by glyphosate is the pseudomonas microbes. Pseudomonas soil bacteria are important phosphate mobilizers and suppressors of fusarium pathogenic fungi. Pseudomonas and most other beneficial soil microbes additionally have an important function in making soil minerals available for plant use. Minerals are found in different states of oxidation/reduction, meaning varying states of electrical valence and electron exchange (i.e., electrical charge).
Plants and animals require most minerals in the reduced valence form to be nutritive. For example, in order for iron in our hemoglobin to carry oxygen, it must be in the Fe+2 (ferrous) form. That is the reduced form. If it gets oxidized to the Fe+3 (ferric) form (meaning it is “rusted”), it does not carry oxygen and is called “met-hemoglobin.” Beneficial microbes such as pseudomonas convert iron and other nutrient minerals to this lower or reduced oxidative state, while pathogens such as fusarium convert the same nutritive minerals to the more oxidized state, rendering these minerals unusable by plants and animals. This oxidizing process is part of the pathogens’ mechanism of attack on the plant or animal to gain the upper hand and kill the prey.
To summarize, there is a two-pronged mechanism occurring with use of glyphosate: trace mineral chelation and pathogen proliferation. These mechanisms have extended consequences. Not only are nutritive minerals directly chelated out of the system, but the proliferation of pathogens effectively converts additional nutritive minerals to unusable form, leading to further nutrient deficiencies in growing crops. This process is occurring throughout the entire food chain as glyphosate residue in food is becoming common. Glyphosate is essentially “rusting away” the fabric of our soils, leading to the proliferation of disease pathogens and nutrient deficiencies throughout the food chain.
The widespread weed resistance developing to glyphosate worldwide is actually resistance to the pathogens that have proliferated due to the glyphosate. Higher and higher rates of glyphosate have to be used to produce the desired effect, blends with other herbicides are commonplace, and in some areas, due to weed resistance, glyphosate has fallen out of favor as a herbicide. No-Till Farmer reported, “At least 21 varieties of glyphosate-resistant weeds have been identified in the US,” and “Between 2005 and 2010, the resistance problem mushroomed, with some Midwestern states reporting millions of acres of glyphosate-resistant weeds, mostly marestail and waterhemp.”[3] Worldwide, the concern is greater, with more than 357 biotypes and 197 species of weeds now reported resistant to glyphosate.[4] In spite of this, glyphosate application rates have increased from 2 liters per hectare to as much as 20 liters per hectare (roughly 8 quarts per acre) in some areas of South America.[5]
The French Supreme Court ruled that “biodegradable” had to be removed from glyphosate‘s label because manufacturers had failed to show it to be biodegradable. According to the BBC, “The court confirmed an earlier judgment that Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as ‘biodegradable’ and claimed it ‘left the soil clean.’”[6] Danish soil-leaching studies showed that glyphosate remained in soil leachate for 18 months,[7] and Swiss forest soils research found glyphosate in the soils more than three years after its last application.[8] It is true that glyphosate will rapidly bind to certain soils and, because it is not easily detected, will appear to be degrading. As a chelating agent, it binds to soil particles, effectively giving the appearance of “disappearing.” However, when conditions are correct, especially after the application of phosphorous fertilizers, the glyphosate is again mobilized, disrupting soil microbiology and immobilizing vital trace minerals.
Monsanto had falsely advertised its herbicide as ‘biodegradable’ and claimed it ‘left the soil clean.’
Research has repeatedly shown that glyphosate reduces the levels of trace minerals in the crop and subsequently increases its susceptibility to disease. Head scab in wheat in all the northern states and Canada is directly attributed to the use of glyphosate as the most influential agronomic factor causing this disease.[9,10] Head scab in wheat results in mycotoxins, fungal toxin residues in the grains and, subsequently, in our foods. A reduction in lignin, amino acid, and carbon dioxide utilization are all correlated with the use of glyphosate.[11]
Glyphosate use is now correlated directly with an increase in crop disease on or around every crop it has been used upon, due to its chelation/immobilization of trace elements, suppression of beneficial soil microbes, and resultant promotion of pathogens. These diseases include canker and greening in citrus, fusarium in all crops, and Goss’s wilt in corn.[12] For consumers, this means increased amounts of toxic mycotoxins in their food wherever glyphosate is being used.[13]
The list goes on and on of adverse effects on our food chain from glyphosate that are being seen around the world. Mycotoxins in grains are a serious threat to fetuses and children, due to their endocrine-disrupting characteristics. Milling companies are finding it more and more difficult to obtain American wheat low enough in mycotoxins to be suitable for commercial foods.
Though seemingly convenient, glyphosate has perpetuated serious environmental and human health consequences that have only recently been made public, thanks to the retirement of a few key university and USDA researchers now able to shed light on the truth about it. In part II, I will discuss the toxicity research on glyphosate, and the human suffering this chemical is leaving in its wake.
Part II
As previously mentioned, glyphosate disrupts soil microbiology, specifically targeting beneficial soil microbes essential for plant protection and nutrient metabolism. It has been shown to be significantly toxic. Note that the reason the American Association of Poison Control Centers contends glyphosate to be relatively harmless to humans is because it is still quoting 1983 data provided by Monsanto. Research since paints a much different picture. Glyphosate is genotoxic, teratogenic, and cytotoxic, meaning it has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, aberrant cell function, and cell death.[12]
Birth defects are a devastating occurrence being seen with increasing prevalence in all pesticide-sprayed areas. It is getting so bad in some areas of South America where glyphosate applications have increased tenfold that doctors got together in 2010 for a conference in Argentina to discuss the epidemic of birth defects among people in crop-sprayed areas, and met again in 2011.[5]
Research further indicts glyphosate as a very toxic product even at doses of 450-fold dilutions of those used in agricultural sprays. The toxic effects include everything from birth defects to neurological disruption in Parkinson’s disease to endocrine disruption.[14,15,16,17,18]
At lower, “nontoxic” concentrations of Roundup and glyphosate (1 ppm), the main endocrine disruption is a testosterone decrease of 35 percent. Leydig cells, located in the testes, are exposed to this kind of environmental dose; 1 ppm was found in human urine and thus was present in blood.[19] When 10 ppm of glyphosate was given to rats, half was still found in plasma 15 hours later.[20,21] Texas Tech University found that exposing the Leydig cells of mice to Roundup reduced their production of sex hormones (testosterone and oxytocin) by 94 percent.[22,19]
Glyphosate has also been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Its mode of action is to interfere with the synthesis of the amino acids phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan.[23,24,25]
In addition, Professor Robert Bell showed that Roundup impairs the cell’s ability to repair aberrant DNA. Thus, this faulty DNA perpetuates in the organism, affecting development and potentially leading to cancer.[26]
And if that weren’t enough, glyphosate has been implicated in the disruption of dairy-processing microbiology used in making various fermented foods. It is getting into the animals via the feed and passing into the milk.[27]
In a recent review of studies, Samsel and Seneff reported that glyphosate suppresses cytochrome P450 enzymes in the gut.[28] P450 enzymes are the most abundant and important detoxification enzyme systems in the human body, particularly in the gut and liver. These enzymes deal not only with drug detoxification but also with almost every environmental, food, and endogenous toxin to which a person may be exposed. Any inhibition of these enzymes results in an increased amount of toxin residue and consequences in the body.
Detractors of this paper contend that it holds little merit because neither Samsel nor Seneff are agricultural, medical, or biochemical experts, completely ignoring the fact that the actual mechanisms of cellular and tissue biochemical and physiological disruption have been proven with absolute scientific rigor. Samsel and Seneff’s paper is not claiming to present a new discovery or new research. They merely took data and scientific proofs already in the scientific literature, summarized them, statistically analyzed them, and presented their findings. One need not be a cell biologist or physiologist to do statistical analyses on data supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USDA, and peer-reviewed literature. Then again, detraction from the truth about glyphosate and GMO crops has little to do with science. It has everything to do with perpetuating one of the most lucrative undertakings in modern history.[28]
As far back as 1998, researchers showed that glyphosate inhibited P450 enzymes in plants, so it should not be a surprise that it suppresses the same enzymes in bacteria and mammals.[29] Glyphosate has also been shown to disrupt calcium channels in cell membranes, which are critical to cellular regulation of electrolytes and apoptosis, or programmed cell death.[30]
Séralini showed in landmark research, published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, that glyphosate independently caused malignant mammary tumors in laboratory animals, as did genetically modified corn. His studies were so indicting of the chemical/biotech industry and the perpetuators of genetically engineered products that the industry coerced Elsevier, the journal’s publisher, to retract Séralini’s paper. Pundits of genetically engineered crops and glyphosate sang a smug song of joy after the paper was retracted, thinking this was the end of the condemning report.[31]
Fortunately for truth in science, Séralini’s data subsequently received even more worldwide peer review, which led to the republishing of the original paper – only with even stronger scientific rigor, showing direct causation of cancerous mammary tumors by glyphosate and genetically engineered corn.[32]
Yet another problem stemming from glyphosate in animal feed, especially in grains and DDGS (distiller’s dried grains with solubles), is the disruption of beneficial gut bacteria, allowing the proliferation of C. botulinum and the subsequent death of cattle by systemic botulism poisoning. This has become a significant problem in dairy herds in Germany, with animals dying of systemic botulism poisoning precipitated by glyphosate residue in the feed.[33]
Is this a problem for families in the US? A study on babies in the US who died of sudden infant death syndrome found that 20 percent had botulism toxin in their bodies upon autopsy.[34] I took the opportunity to personally visit the team of veterinarians at Leipzig University doing groundbreaking research on the induction of systemic botulism by glyphosate. This herbicide-induced disease has been found both in cattle and in humans with increasing prevalence. It is an impending public health disaster, in my opinion. Also concerning is the political and academic harassment these veterinarians are experiencing for telling the truth and reporting their findings – because a glyphosate-induced, botulism-poisoned dead cow threatens the “cash cow.”
Many researchers report the problems at hand from glyphosate in the soil and food chain. It would take weeks of continuous reading to get through even the basic journal articles on the adverse effects of glyphosate on soil microbiology and nutrient flow, plus those discussing the reduction in plant nutrient content caused directly and indirectly by glyphosate and those pertaining to the consequential increased incidence of plant diseases resulting from its application to the soil/crops.
Fortunately, there is Dr. Don Huber, a retired Purdue University plant pathologist who has really opened Pandora’s box regarding the disaster of glyphosate use in agriculture, after forty-plus years of research in the field. Purdue has tried its best to distance itself from Dr. Huber since his retirement, because he is telling the truth – truth that he was not allowed to tell until after he retired.
What most people don’t know is that Dr. Huber is also a retired Army colonel who spent half his career at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, working in the biothreats arena for the Department of Defense while maintaining his “civilian” research and teaching duties at Purdue. This is a professional scientist with the highest standards and an impeccable reputation – a man who takes his oath to defend our country seriously enough to tell the truth about glyphosate, academic research suppression, and the threat they and genetically modified crops pose to the health and safety of all mankind. Part of his job description at Ft. Detrick was to sound the warning whenever a biological threat against the US or its allies was discovered. That he has done and is doing yet today.
Any farmer or researcher who calls himself or herself a scientist and abides by the scientific approach must come to the conclusion that, despite its seemingly “miraculous” personality, glyphosate is toxic. It is degrading our soils and food crops, leading to novel diseases, resistant weeds, and insect pests and contributing to the decline in human health via birth defects, cancers, neurological diseases, nutrient decline, and microbial disruption, all of which is well documented in the scientific literature.
Excerpted with the author’s permission from “Food Plague Primer: Glyphosate and Genetically Engineered Crops.”
For more information on this subject, see Dr. Andersen’s book Food Plague: Could Our Daily Bread Be Our Most Life Threatening Exposure?
About the Author
Arden Andersen, DO, MSPH, PhD, practices general family medicine in Lansing, Kansas, and is board certified in public health. He is also an agricultural consultant and teacher. Dr. Anderson has authored numerous articles and books including The Anatomy of Life and Energy in Agriculture, Science in Agriculture, and Real Medicine, Real Health, as well as several audio and video courses. He travels the world, teaching farmers, instructing consumers, and speaking to healthcare professionals about food quality and the link between soil health and human health. He may be contacted through the Providence Medical Group, in Lansing, Kansas, at 913-727-6000.
REFERENCES
- Worldwatch Institute. Crop Yields Expand, but Nutrition Is Left Behind. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5339.
- Edwards R. Organic food might reduce heart attacks. New Scientist. March 14, 2002.
- No-Till Farmer. May 2012.
- International Survey of Herbicide Resistant Weeds. http://www.weedscience.org/In.asp.
- Report from the First National Meeting of Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns. Faculty of Medical Sciences, National University of Cordoba. August 27-28, 2010. http://www.reduas.fcm.unc.edu.ar/report-from-the-first-national-meeting-of-physicians-in-the-crop-sprayed-towns/.
- BBC News. Monsanto guilty in ‘false ad’ row. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8308903.stm. Updated October 15, 2009.
- Mortensen OS, Sørensen FW, Gregersen M, Jensen K. [Poisonings with the herbicides glyphosate and glyphosate-trimesium]. Ugeskr Laeger. 2000 Aug 28; 162(35):4656-4659. [Article in Danish].
- Cox C. Glyphosate, part 1: Toxicology. Journal of Pesticide Reform. Fall 1995; 15(3).
- Fernandez MR, Selles F, Gehl D, et al. Crop production factors associated with Fusarium head blight in spring wheat in eastern Saskatchewan. Crop Sci. 2005; 45(5):1908-1916.
- Fernandez MR, Zentner RP, DePauw RM, et al. Impacts of crop production factors on fusarium head blight in barley in Eastern Saskatchewan. Crop Sci. 2007; 47(4):1574-1584.
- Zobiole LHS, de Oliveira RS, Huber DM, et al. Glyphosate reduces shoot concentrations of mineral nutrients in glyphosate-resistant soybeans. Plant Soil. 2009 Jul 4. [Epub ahead of print].
- Huber D. Glyphosate Effects on Crops, Soils, Animals, and Consumers. December 2011.
- Huber D. Proc Natl FHB Forum. Orlando, FL. 2009.
- Gasnier C, Dumont C, Benachour N, et al. Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines. Toxicology. 2009 Jun 17. [Epub ahead of print].
- Benachour N, Seralini GE. Glyphosate formulations induce apoptosis and necrosis in human umbilical, embryonic, and placental cells. Chem Res Toxicol. 2009 Jan; 22(1):97-105.
- Benachour N, Sipahutar H, Moslemi S, et al. Time- and dose-dependent effects of Roundup on human embryonic and placental cells. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2007 Jul; 53(1):126-133.
- Paganelli A, Gnazzo V, Acosta H, et al. Glyphosate-based herbicides produce teratogenic effects on vertebrates by impairing retinoic acid signaling. Chem Res Toxicol. 2010 Oct 18; 23(10):1586-1595.
- Koller VJ, Fürhacker M, Nersesyan A, et al. Cytotoxic and DNA- damaging properties of glyphosate and Roundup in human-derived buccal epithelial cells. Arch Toxicol. 2012 Feb 14.
- Acquavella JF, Alexander BH, Mandel JS, et al. Glyphosate biomonitoring for farmers and their families: results from the Farm Family Exposure Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2004 Mar;112(3):321-326.
- Anadón A, Martinez-Larrañaga MR, Martínez MA, et al. Toxicokinetics of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethyl phosphonic acid in rats. Toxicol Lett. 2009 Oct 8; 190(1):91-95.
- Clair E, Mesnage R, Travert C, Séralini GÉ. A glyphosate-based herbicide induces necrosis and apoptosis in mature rat testicular cells in vitro, and testosterone decrease at lower levels. Toxicol In Vitro. 2012 Mar; 26(2):269-279.
- Walsh LP, McCormick C, Martin C, Stocco DM. Roundup inhibits steroidogenesis by disrupting steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein expression. Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Aug; 108(8):769-776.
- Astiz M, de Alaniz MJ, Marra CA. Effect of pesticides on cell survival in liver and brain rat tissues. Ecotox Environ Safe. 2009; 72:2025-2032.
- Peixoto F. Comparative effects of the Roundup and glyphosate on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Chemosphere. 2005 Dec; 61(8):1115-1122.
- Gui YX, Fan XN, Wang HM, et al. Glyphosate induced cell death through apoptotic and autophagic mechanisms. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2012 May-Jun; 34(3):344-349.
- Robin MM. Le Monde Selon Monsanto. Coédition La Découverte/Arte. 2008; p.103.
- Clair E, Linn L, Travert C, et al. Effects of Roundup and glyphosate on three food microorganisms: Geotrichum candidum, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus. Curr Microbiol. 2012 May; 64(5):486-491. Epub 2012 Feb 24.
- Samsel A, Seneff S. Glyphosate’s suppression of Cytochrome P450 enzymes and amino acid biosynthesis by the gut microbiome: pathways to modern diseases. Entropy. 2013; 15:1416-1463.
- Lamb DC, Kelly DE, Hanley SZ, et al. Glyphosate is an inhibitor of plant cytochrome P450: functional expression of Thlaspi arvensae cytochrome P45071B1/reductase fusion protein in Escherichia coli. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1998 Mar 6; 244(1):110-114.
- Cavallia VL, Cattania D, Carla EHR, et al. Roundup disrupts male reproductive functions by triggering calcium-mediated cell death in rat testis and Sertoli cells. Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 2013 Dec. 65:335-346.
- Séralini GE, Mesnage R, Defarge N, de Vendômois JS. Conflicts of interests, confidentiality and censorship in health risk assessment: the example of an herbicide and a GMO. Environ Scis Europe. 2014; 26:13.
- Séralini GE, Clair E, Mesnage R, et al. Republished study: long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize. Environ Scis Europe. 2014, 26:1.
- Krüger M, Shehata A, Neuhaus J, et al. [Cow illness from chronic botulism: what role does glyphosate play?] Institut für Bakteriologie und Mykologie. 2011. [Article in German].
- Bartram U, Singer D. [Infant botulism and sudden infant death syndrome]. Klin Padiatr. 2004 Jan-Feb; 216(1):26-30. [Article in German].
Published in the Price-Pottenger Journal of Health & Healing
Winter 2014 – 2015 | Volume 38, Number 4
Copyright © 2015 Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Inc.®
All Rights Reserved Worldwide