|
|
 
|
Studies show Roundup herbicide to be hormone disruptor (Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2002 -- CropChoice news) -- The following information comes from Rachel's Environment and Health News, issue 751, Sept. 5, 2002.
Two new studies indicate that Monsanto's herbicide, Roundup,
is a hormone-disruptor and is associated with birth defects in
humans.
Farm families that applied pesticides to their crops in
Minnesota were studied to see if their elevated exposure to
pesticides caused birth defects in their children. The study
found that two kinds of pesticides -- fungicides and the
herbicide Roundup -- were linked to statistically significant
increases in birth defects. Roundup was linked to a 3-fold
increase in neurodevelopmental (attention deficit) disorders.
[EHP Supplement 3, Vol. 110 (June 2002), pgs. 441-449.]
A recent test tube study reveals that Roundup can severely
reduce the ability of mouse cells to produce hormones. Roundup
interferes with a fundamental protein called StAR
(steroidogenic acute regulatory protein). The StAR protein is
key to the production of testosterone in men (thus controlling
male characteristics, including sperm production) but also the
production of adrenal hormone (essential for brain
development), carbohydrate metabolism (leading to loss or gain
of weight), and immune system function. The authors point out
that "a disruption of the StAR protein may underlie many of the
toxic effects of environmental pollutants." [EHP Vol. 108, No.
8 (August 2000), pgs. 769-776.]
Monsanto, the St. Louis chemical giant and creator of Roundup
as well as PCBs, is now a leader in genetically engineered
crops. Monsanto sells "Roundup ready" seeds for corn, soybeans,
and cotton; wheat and lawn grasses will be next. These are
seeds engineered to withstand a thorough dousing with Roundup,
which kills weeds without killing the Roundup-ready crops. To
make Monsanto's "Roundup ready" seeds legal, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) had to triple the amount of Roundup
residues that it allows on crops. For years, Roundup has been
Monsanto's most profitable product, and genetic engineering has
now allowed the firm to sell much more of it. See RACHEL'S
#637, #639, #660, #686, #726.
For example, a 1999 study of soybean farming in the U.S.
midwest found that farmers planting Roundup Ready soybeans
used
2 to 5 times as many pounds of herbicide per acre as farmers
using conventional systems, and ten times as much herbicide as
farmers using Integrated Weed Management systems, which are
intended to reduce the need for chemical herbicides.[3,pg.2]
More chemical dangers probably lie ahead as new products of
genetic engineering come to market. According to the NEW YORK
TIMES, Scotts Company is collaborating with Monsanto to develop
Roundup Ready grass for lawns.[4] Children and pregnant women,
beware.
Access Rachel's and the Environmental Research Foundation at http://www.rachel.org. | |
