Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
A recent report by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 80 percent of urine samples from children and adults in the U.S. contained the herbicide glyphosate. A study by Florida Atlantic University and Nova Southeastern University takes this research one step further and is the first to link the use of the herbicide Roundup, a widely used weed killer, to convulsions in animals.
Glyphosate, the weed killer component in Roundup, is the world's most commonly used herbicide by volume and by land-area treated. Glyphosate-resistant crops account for almost 80 percent of transgenic crop cultivated land, which has resulted in an estimated 6.1 billion kilos of glyphosate sprayed across the world from 2005 to 2014. Roundup is used at both industrial and consumer levels, and its use is projected to dramatically increase over the coming years. A major question, yet to be fully understood, is the potential impact of glyphosate on the nervous system.
[...] Results, published in Scientific Reports, showed that glyphosate and Roundup increased seizure-like behavior in soil-dwelling roundworms and provides significant evidence that glyphosate targets GABA-A receptors. These communication points are essential for locomotion and are heavily involved in regulating sleep and mood in humans. What truly sets this research apart is that it was done at significantly less levels than recommended by the EPA and those used in past studies.
"The concentration listed for best results on the Roundup Super Concentrate label is 0.98 percent glyphosate, which is about 5 tablespoons of Roundup in 1 gallon of water," said Naraine. "A significant finding from our study reveals that just 0.002 percent glyphosate, a difference of about 300 times less herbicide than the lowest concentration recommended for consumer use, had concerning effects on the nervous system."
[...] Findings also generate concern over how herbicide use might affect soil-dwelling organisms like C. elegans.
"These roundworms undergo convulsions under thermal stress, and our data strongly implicates glyphosate and Roundup exposure in exacerbating convulsive effects. This could prove vital as we experience the effects of climate change," said Naraine.
[...] "As of now, there is no information for how exposure to glyphosate and Roundup may affect humans diagnosed with epilepsy or other seizure disorders," said Dawson-Scully. "Our study indicates that there is significant disruption in locomotion and should prompt further vertebrate studies."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 26 2022, @07:40PM (8 children)
Something I have run into over and over again in animal testing: Humans are tough creatures. It's not just our relatively large size and mass (though that helps) - we're also more highly evolved than a lot of the animals I have read testing data on... we withstand more milliamps of vagal stimulation before our heart stops, it takes higher doses (per kg) of chemicals to anesthetize and/or poison us - usually. We're pretty damn resilient, as we have had to be to adapt to so many quickly varying environments around the globe.
However... we still need to pay attention to the canaries, even when we're not down in a coal mine. What hurts them also hurts us, if not as much or as quickly, usually in the long term.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 26 2022, @09:50PM (1 child)
One counter example could be LSD? A dose of 100 micrograms (damn little) is enough to send the brain on a multiple hour trip.
Recommended dose for fentanyl (as a medical anesthetic) is similar.
(Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 26 2022, @10:03PM
And what dose of LSD to send your dog on a trip you'll never forget?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 4, Touché) by Opportunist on Friday August 26 2022, @09:55PM (5 children)
Maybe so, but if something kills a rat and "only" causes permanent damage in humans it's still bad enough to consider it a problem, don't you think?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 26 2022, @10:10PM (4 children)
Absolutely, and that's my point. Just because we "can" take a high exposure to glyphosate, or any number of insecticides that are "deadly to insects, but 'harmless' to humans" doesn't mean that we're completely unharmed by them.
This has particular concern for me and my two autistic sons: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6071837 [nih.gov] not to mention the ~3800 little humans who are diagnosed with autism (worldwide) every day.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Saturday August 27 2022, @07:13AM (3 children)
But wouldn't we expect to see pesticide related problems peak around the 1960s and 1970s when there was a peak in general pesticide use and start to decline after we realized that high pesticide doses are harmful to mammals, too, around that time?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2022, @12:15PM
Isn't that more or less what happened to DDT and Agent Orange?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Immerman on Saturday August 27 2022, @02:27PM
Glyphosphate is a weed killer, not a pesticide, and practically our entire diet is saturated with it. No amount of cleaning can remove what's been absorbed into the cells themselves. And nobody in the food-processsing industry is likely to bother washing produce much beyond the minimum required by law - it cuts into corporate profits.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 27 2022, @02:31PM
DDT and Agent Orange got flagged as bad, organo-phosphates haven't yet - in many cases.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MIRV888 on Friday August 26 2022, @11:28PM (2 children)
I have a 1 gallon jug of concentrated glyphosate powder in the shed. 1 cup per gallon of water.
That ain't good.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 26 2022, @11:50PM
Ain't never hurt nobody, thems that worked it 'll tell ya.
https://my.roundup-cancer-claim.org/ [roundup-cancer-claim.org]
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2022, @04:41PM
Yeah, we've got some around too. I haven't used it in years, went back to pulling the weeds in the gravel driveway by hand.
(Score: -1, Spam) by BleedingRunaway on Saturday August 27 2022, @07:19AM
I am convulsing from being banned by janrinok so many time because of who he thinks I may be. I could be Ghengis Khan.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 27 2022, @09:19AM (3 children)
Never forget that Roundup isn't only glyphosate. A lot of these studies just test glyphosate.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/weed-whacking-herbicide-p/ [scientificamerican.com]
See also: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13867 [wiley.com]
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Saturday August 27 2022, @02:00PM (1 child)
> Label recommended pesticide concentrations were applied to the bees using a Roundup® Ready-To-Use spray bottle.
Lesson learnt: don't shower in roundup.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 27 2022, @06:55PM
The real lesson: don't be a bee on a farm. If you're a bee, stay wild and as far from human activity as possible.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 27 2022, @06:52PM
>Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns
If the ingredients are "inert" why aren't they substituted with water, or other cheaper things?
Clue: because "inert" is a misleading label. Those ingredients enable the glyphosate to penetrate the plants' (animals', whatever) protective layers and get in to where it does what it does best: kill them.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end