---> Why I try to eat food and
consume products that are organically grown as much as possibly and stay away
from conventional and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). There are many reasons why to avoid conventional food, too many to go into here. So I will talk about
my main concern, pesticides. Also, what you can do to avoid harmful chemicals
and turn your food consumption into something that benefits your life and the
environment around you and your family.
Pesticides:
There are a myriad of pesticides registered and used on
croplands. Glyphosate is one I take issue with due to its widespread use. Glyphosate,
the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Round-up ™, is the number one
used herbicide by volume in the world [i],[ii]. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a soil-dwelling bacteria that
possesses a protein which acts as an insecticide. For this reason, scientists
have isolated this protein and inserted it into the DNA of many different food
plants, including potatoes, cotton, and most notably corn. Both glyphosate and Bt are widely used in
creating and maintaining genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that are used as
agricultural crops, such as GM corn and GM soy. Agricultural crops are being
modified to be Round-up resistant and to produce the Bt toxin. Since these
plants are producing the Bt toxin and being sprayed with Round-up, there is
surely an interaction between the two chemicals. In a study printed in the Journal
of Applied Toxicology, the Laboratory of Biochemistry of the University of Caen
examined the toxicological effects of glyphosate and (Bt) toxin on human cells.
In particular they looked at the singular effect of various Bt toxins on human
cells and the synergistic effects of the interactions between Round-up residue and
the Bt toxin. They found that one of the two Bt toxins studied, at
concentrations of 100 parts per million, caused cell death. Also, that Round-up
tested alone in concentrations of 1 to 20,000 parts per million (ppm) killed
human embryonic kidney cells, and Round-up at concentrations as low as 50 ppm,
levels far below agricultural dilutions, induced cell death. The combined
effect of the two substances delayed apoptosis, or programmed cell death [iii].
Programmed cell death sounds bad, but in fact it is one of many mechanisms that
cells possess to exterminate problematic cells (i.e., cells that are dividing
uncontrollably, one of the defining characteristics of cancerous cells.) The Oxford journal of
Carcinogenisis states that:
“it is now clear that
some oncogenic [tumor causing] mutations disrupt apoptosis, leading to tumor
initiation, progression, or metastasis. Conversely, compelling evidence
indicates that other oncogenic changes promote apoptosis, thereby producing
selective pressure to override apoptosis during multistage carcinogenesis.
Finally, it is now well documented that most cytotoxic anticancer agents induce
apoptosis, raising the intriguing possibility that defects in apoptotic
programs contribute to treatment failure.” [iv]
The study about the toxicity of Round-up and Bt toxin comes
five days after a study that describes how Round-up is many orders of magnitude
more toxic to human DNA than we previously thought. Their study reported that
Round-up diluted to concentrations 450 times below what is used in commercial
agriculture is toxic to human DNA cells [ii]. This is most
likely due to the presence of the surfactant polyoxyethyleneamine that
is used in the Roundup formula. This surfactant may dramatically enhance the
absorption of glyphosate into exposed human cells and tissue [v]. Here are some
of the other issues surrounding Glyphosate and Bt toxin that I don’t really
have the space to go into now. Some are articles with links to multiple studies
and official documents and some are the scientific studies themselves. Keep in
mind that it is not easy to support the hypothesis that these pesticides have
certain effects on humans because no one wants to be tested on and you can’t
exactly inject a baby with this stuff and watch what happens.
Some of the
issues that come to mind:
1. Bt toxins are killing
our intestinal flora and possibly causing obesity and mental health problems:
2. Monsanto Products such
as Glyphosate, Bt toxins, DDT (still used around the world), Endosulfans, HCH are causing human infertility and birth
defects.
a. Birth Defects Caused by World’s Top-Selling
Weedkiller, Scientists Say. Look for the links to four separate studies
conducted on this issue in this article:
b. Persistent Organic Pollutants Could Lead to Birth Defects in Half of All Newborns: http://naturalsociety.com/persistent-organic-pollutants-birth-defects-half-newborns/#ixzz2IA1vv0Vf
Here is the study linked with the previous article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Association%20of%20selected%20persistent%20organic%20pollutants%20in%20the%20placenta%20with%20risk%20of%20neural%20tube%20defects
c. Exposure to this chemical is linked to birth Defects:
Here is the Report linked with the
previous article:
3. Bt toxins may be responsible
for honey bee colony collapse disorder (CCD)
4. Bt toxins may be responsible
for Monarch butterfly disappearance:
5. Bt toxins reduce soil fertility:
Survival of the fittest comes to mind when thinking about Round-up
resistant plants and the creation of super-weeds. Farmers spray their
fields with Round-up to get rid of pesky weeds that would other wise
crowd out their crops if not otherwise dealt with. In the process of
spraying, a minute portion of the weeds survive the spraying. The weeds
that survive are able to procreate and pass on their genes that were
able to survive to the next generation and so on. Superweeds resistant
to Round-up pose a real threat to farmers. Instead of heading natures
warning that this whole deal may be bad news, Monsanto and other
companies like Dow and Dupont are proposing to introduce GM plants that
are 2, 4-d resistant to the world. If you are not familiar with 2, 4-d
it is half the chemical make up of Agent Orange, the chemical defoliant
used by the US government in the Vietnam war. Vietnamese and US veterans
are still suffering today from the effects of Agent Orange. 2, 4-d has
been linked to Non-hodkin's lymphoma in humans, birth defects,
miscariages. Just ask the folks in Denny, CA how that went down when the
Forest Service decided to spray 2, 4-d on clear cuts adjacent to the
creek that gives Denny its water. I learned about that one in my
political science class.
Atrazine
used to be the number one used herbicide in the world, that is until glyphosate
came onto the market. Now it is number two, but arguably the most widely used
in the United States.
The endocrine disrupting capabilities of this chemical is staggering. I look to
the in-depth work of one of Cal Berkely’s finest, Tyrone Hayes, for further
explanation on the subject of Atrazine. Hayes is near and dear to my heart
because he came and spoke on this subject of the endocrine disrupting effect of
atrazine on frogs and at Humboldt
State while I was
attending college.
The current findings of his study and others before
him suggest that atrazine inhibits testosterone and induces estrogen secretion
in frogs, producing hermaphroditic frogs. This is essentially what an endocrine
disruptor does, if you are not familiar with the term. Endocrine disruptors are
substances, not already found in the body, that interfere with the synthesis,
secretion, transport, binding, or other actions of hormones in the body. They
can have devastating effects such as cause cancer, fetal abnormalities,
miscarriages, etc. They can also have more subversive effects that may go
unnoticed such as causing learning disabilities, decreased fertility, low sperm
count, and hermaphroditism. Here is an excerpt from one of his studies
“the effects on the
gonads in the current study were produced at 0.1 ppb, which was more than 600
times lower than the dose required to induce aromatase in human adrenocortical
carcinoma and placental choriocarcinoma studies and 30,000,000 times lower than
the dose required to produce reproductive effects in rats. The current data
raise new concerns for amphibians with regards to atrazine. Effective doses
(0.1 ppb for the production of hermaphrodites and 1 ppb for reduction in
laryngeal size) are ecologically relevant. The recommended application level of
atrazine ranges from 2,500,000–29,300,000 ppb, the allowable contaminant level
for atrazine in drinking water is 3 ppb, and short-term exposures of 200 ppb
are not considered a health risk. Atrazine can be as high as 21 ppb in ground
water, 42 ppb in surface waters, 102 ppb in river basins in agricultural areas.
This common contaminant could be a contributing factor in amphibian declines
due to reproductive failure.” [vi]
This is where the precautionary principle kicks in for me.
You have got to be thinking that if it can happen to frogs and rats, why not to
humans? Well it can, my friends. Atrazine’s endocrine-disrupting effects have
been shown in fish, amphibians, and reptiles; the induction of mammary and
prostate cancer in laboratory rodents; and correlations between atrazine and
similar reproductive cancers in humans [vii]. Unfortunately, I have just
mentioned three of the most widely used pesticides. There are many more out
there used, along with all of the other nasty industrialized chemicals that are
allowed to be introduced into the environment. The best thing to do is inform
yourself about these chemicals and learn how you can reduce your exposure.
What you
can do.
-Remember that you vote on these issues three times a day. That is,
the money you are spending on food in effect is a vote of what you want present
and available on the market. If you and others start buying more organic food,
the market responds to provide that need. If people continue to buy
conventional/gmo foods, then that choice is what will be represented and
available on the market.
-As of now eating organic is not
enough. According to an article in the German Ithaka Journal, a German
university study found “significant concentrations of glyphosate in the urine
samples of city dwellers. The analysis of the urine samples apparently found
that all had concentrations of glyphosate at 5 to 20-fold the limit for
drinking water” [viii]. We need a moratorium, no a ban, on the use of inorganic
pesticides such a glyphosate. Tell your State and Federal congressman to at
least label if not ban GMOs and their associated pesticide use. For more
information on how you can get involved check out these websites:
- The Just Label it Campaign
that lets the FDA know that you want your food labeled.
-The Label GMOs website is a
place to get information and get involved in direct action.
-The Occupy Monsanto website
where you can get involved in direct action, or donate to the cause.
-Grow your own food when
possible and use organic gardening techniques, such as Integrated Pest
Management (IPM).
IPM:
Like most of life’s endeavors, start with prevention. Then monitor your
plants. When you notice a pest in your garden, try to identify it as specifically
as possible. Read up on the lifecycle and habits of the organism to better
understand how to control it. For example, it is very helpful to know that Spider
mites have a seven day life cycle. Your final stage is to begin controlling the
pests. Start from the most safe and effective alternative and increase in
intensity if need be. If I encounter Spider mites, knowing their life cycle I
know to spray with a solution of diluted Neem oil every seven days until I
don’t see them pop up any more. Neem oil is extracted from a plant and is very
safe to use. Indians use neem leaves (also know as curry leaves) in many types
of curries and is one of the best substances to use for skin care. Stay tuned
for more on the many applications of neem in our herbal medicine section to
come. Understand that whether or not you use harsh chemicals or natural
pesticides, you will still lose about the same amount of your crop to pests.
Plant accordingly. According to a thirty year study conducted by the Rhodale
institute, there was no significant difference in the crop yield between
conventional and organic agricultural practices http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/fst30years
- Prevention:
-Crop rotation
helps reduce the accumulation of pests i.e.
“keeps pests guessing.”
-Select
pest-resistant varieties and native plants. Native plants
have evolved to deal with the
stressors of your particular
climate and also are beneficial to native wildlife.
-Planting pest
free rootstock. Check the starts and rootstock
you get from your local nursery,
they often have pests.
-Mulching reduces
weed growth and gives plants room so
pests can’t easily be transferred to your crop.
-Companion
Planting: planting certain plants with others can
help keep pests away and or
encourage beneficial insects that
can prey on pests. For example, planting
marigolds with
tomatoes. Here is a companion planting chart:
-Control:
-Encouraging beneficial insects that will prey on pests such as
praying
mantis, lacewings, and lady bugs. Grow composite
and umbel type flowers that have nectar for beneficials to
feed on. Learn to identify egg sacs and transport beneficials to
garden space.
-Row covers and physical barriers are the garden’s body
guards.
-Trapping: we have a problem with earwigs so we take old
cottage cheese containers, poke holes in the lids big enough
for them to fit in and put
a mixture of oil and soy sauce in the
container. They are attracted to the
saltiness of the soy
sauce and get trapped in the oil.
-Neem and other non-specific (and hopefully organic)
pesticides.
Look forward to more topics on
the associated practices of organic and conventional agriculture and why it
should influence the food you buy.
Works Cited:
[i] water.epa.gov/.../Archived-Technical-Fact-Sheet-on-Glyphosate.pdf
[ii] Verena J Koller, M. Fürhacker, A. Nersesyan, M.
Mišík, M. Eisenbauer, S. Knasmueller 2012. Archives of Toxicology. Cytotoxic
and DNA-damaging properties of glyphosate and Roundup in human-derived buccal
epithelial cells.
[iii]R Mesnage, E Clair, S Gress,
C Then, A Székács, G-E Séralini 2012. Journal of Applied Toxicology.
Cytotoxicity on human cells of Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac Bt insecticidal toxins alone
or with a glyphosate-based herbicide.
[iv] Scott W. Lowel, A. Lin 2000. Oxford Journal of Carcinogenisis. Apoptosis in
Cancer.
[v] H. de Ruiter, M. Verbeek, A. Uffing 1988. Pesticide Formulations Chapter 5, pp 44-45. Mode of Action of a Nonionic and a Cationic Surfactant in Relation to Glyphosate.
[vi] Tyrone Hayes, A. Collins, M. Lee, M. Mendoza, N. Noriega, A. Stuart, A. Vonk 2002. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after the exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses.
[vii] WuQiang Fan, T. Yanase, H. Morinaga, S. Gondo, T. Okabe, M. Nomura, T. Komatsu, K. Morohashi, T. Hayes, R. Takayanagi, H. Nawata 2007. Environmental Health Perspectives. Atrazine-Induced Aromatase Expression Is SF-1 Dependent: Implications for Endocrine Disruption in Wildlife and Reproductive Cancers in Humans.
[viii] http://www.ithaka-journal.net/herbizide-im-urin?lang=en
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