Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the world's best-selling
weedkiller Roundup, causes malformations in frog and chicken
embryos at doses far lower than those used in agricultural
spraying and well below maximum residue levels in products
presently approved in the European Union. This is reported in
research (1) published by a group around Professor Andrés
Carrasco, director of the Laboratory of Molecular Embryology at
the University of Buenos Aires Medical School and member of
Argentina's National Council of Scientific and Technical
Research.
Carrasco was led to research the embryonic effects of glyphosate
by reports of high rates of birth defects in rural areas of
Argentina where Monsanto's genetically modified "Roundup Ready"
(RR) soybeans are grown in large monocultures sprayed from
airplanes regularly. RR soy is engineered to tolerate Roundup,
allowing farmers to spray the herbicide liberally to kill weeds
while the crop is growing.
At a press conference during the 6th European Conference of GMO
Free Regions in the European Parliament in Brussels Carrasco
said, "The findings in the lab are compatible with malformations
observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy."
Reporting of such problems started in 2002, two years after
large scale introduction of RR soybeans in Argentina. The
experimental animals share similar developmental mechanisms with
humans. The authors concluded that the results raise "concerns
about the clinical findings from human offspring in populations
exposed to Roundup in agricultural fields." Carrasco added, "I
suspect the toxicity classification of glyphosate is too low. In
some cases this can be a powerful poison."
The maximum residue level (MRL) allowed for glyphosate in soy in
the EU is 20 mg/kg. The level was increased 200-fold from 0.1
mg/kg to 20 mg/kg in 1997 after GM RR soy was commercialized in
Europe. Carrasco found malformations in embryos injected with
2.03 mg/kg glyphosate. Soybeans can contain glyphosate residues
of up to 17mg/kg.
In August 2010 Amnesty International reported that an organized
mob violently attacked people who gathered to hear Carrasco talk
about his research in the town of La Leonesa, Chaco province.
Witnesses implicated local agro-industry figures in the attack.
Carrasco is also the co-author of a report, "GM Soy:
Sustainable? Responsible?" released on September 16 by a group
of international scientists. The report documents a bulk of
evidence in scientific studies on the harmful health and
environmental impacts of GM RR soy and Roundup.
This report is released together with the testimonies of people
who have suffered from such spraying. Viviana Peralta, a
housewife from San Jorge, Santa Fe, Argentina was hospitalized
together with her baby after Roundup spraying from planes flying
near her home. Peralta and other residents launched a lawsuit
that resulted in a regional court ban on the spraying of Roundup
and other agrochemicals near houses.
ENDS
(1) Paganelli, A., Gnazzo, V., Acosta, H., López, S.L.,
Carrasco, A.E. 2010. Glyphosate-based herbicides produce
teratogenic effects on vertebrates by impairing retinoic acid
signalling. Chem. Res. Toxicol., August 9.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/tx1001749
(2) GM Soy: Sustainable? Responsible?" is released on September
16 by Andrés Carrasco and eight other international scientists:
http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/conference2010/press.html