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underpants

(182,861 posts)
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 05:04 PM Oct 2018

How Much Herbicide Can You Tolerate in Your Food, and for How Long?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-26/how-much-monsanto-herbicide-roundup-can-you-tolerate-in-your-food

By now, many consumers have heard of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide known as Roundup, and warnings about its presence in many of their favorite foods. From oatmeal to granola bars, ice cream to even orange juice, trace amounts of the chemical can be found throughout your local supermarket.

It’s the world’s most widely used weedkiller—a blockbuster for Monsanto Co. since it was introduced in the 1970s. The vast majority of U.S. corn and soybeans have been genetically modified to withstand it, making it a critical component of modern farming. But in 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer—an arm of the World Health Organization—labeled it a probable carcinogen. Since then, it’s become a legal headache for Monsanto, and now Bayer AG, which bought the company in June for $66 billion.

While regulators including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency say the glyphosate found in food isn’t a problem because it’s at low levels, some scientists contend not enough is known about the effects of eating small amounts of it, especially over long periods of time.

“It does seem to be in everything,” said Cynthia Curl, the co-director of the Center for Excellence in Environmental Health and Safety at Boise State University. “We know enough that we should be learning more.”
29 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How Much Herbicide Can You Tolerate in Your Food, and for How Long? (Original Post) underpants Oct 2018 OP
Start a rumor that it causes autism... jberryhill Oct 2018 #1
That's the problem - not enough fact based science FreeState Oct 2018 #8
They lost the case in part because their own researcher was concerned that they'd never studied pnwmom Oct 2018 #18
This crap never Wellstone ruled Oct 2018 #2
Really? Got a source for that? FreeState Oct 2018 #9
Daughter the Nurse who deals with persons suffering from Toxic Exposure in Colorado. Wellstone ruled Oct 2018 #10
That's not a source - I linked to one FreeState Oct 2018 #11
Do not have a hard sourse. Wellstone ruled Oct 2018 #15
Glyphosate isn't the only ingredient in Roundup. n/t pnwmom Oct 2018 #19
The other main ingredient is POEA as a surfactant, which is also pretty safe for humans Amishman Oct 2018 #25
Monsanto's researcher was concerned that they hadn't been tested in combination, pnwmom Oct 2018 #29
Dirty Donny* is not the only lying republican hate monger Achilleaze Oct 2018 #27
Hello - Monsanto just lost a big lawsuit about this womanofthehills Oct 2018 #23
I remember being told that Round Up safeinOhio Oct 2018 #3
yes, that was the bogus sales pitch. KT2000 Oct 2018 #7
plus we now have plastic in our bodies NJCher Oct 2018 #4
As someone just diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma walkingman Oct 2018 #5
the most important question is - KT2000 Oct 2018 #6
How much glyphosate is in oats? How many ppm? ppb?...nt SidDithers Oct 2018 #12
how much in mother's milk? KT2000 Oct 2018 #13
You tell me... SidDithers Oct 2018 #14
any amount KT2000 Oct 2018 #16
Products With Potentially Unsafe Levels of Glyphosate (Above 160ppb) HAB911 Oct 2018 #20
Not Bob's ... awww sh*t C_U_L8R Oct 2018 #26
EPA allowable level in Group 15 grains is 30 ppm... SidDithers Oct 2018 #28
Oats are the highest because of spraying just before harvest but ..... womanofthehills Oct 2018 #21
Because the government is lax in testing, many private labs are now testing womanofthehills Oct 2018 #22
Bean farmers use glyphosate to kill the plants for harvest. roamer65 Oct 2018 #17
Potato farms too. Kill the vines to make harvest easier. mysitcfairy Oct 2018 #24
 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
1. Start a rumor that it causes autism...
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 05:10 PM
Oct 2018

...and people will demand it be removed from the food supply immediately.

I wonder what the epidemiological profile looks like between, oh, people with a diet high in oats looks like relative to other kinds of diets.

pnwmom

(108,990 posts)
18. They lost the case in part because their own researcher was concerned that they'd never studied
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 01:45 AM
Oct 2018

it in the formula that they sold it in -- with glyphosate AND the other ingredients. So even if Glyphosate is safe, Roundup has not been proven to be, because they haven't studied it.

 

Wellstone ruled

(34,661 posts)
2. This crap never
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 05:10 PM
Oct 2018

levies your body,it accumulates in your fatty tissue as well as your liver and Kidneys .

FreeState

(10,575 posts)
9. Really? Got a source for that?
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 07:01 PM
Oct 2018

In humans, glyphosate does not easily pass through the skin. Glyphosate that is absorbed or ingested will pass through the body relatively quickly. The vast majority of glyphosate leaves the body in urine and feces without being changed into another chemical.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html

Amishman

(5,559 posts)
25. The other main ingredient is POEA as a surfactant, which is also pretty safe for humans
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 09:57 AM
Oct 2018

But really toxic to fish

pnwmom

(108,990 posts)
29. Monsanto's researcher was concerned that they hadn't been tested in combination,
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 02:58 PM
Oct 2018

Last edited Mon Oct 29, 2018, 04:42 PM - Edit history (2)

and that they should they should have been, because of possible interactions.

https://www.thenation.com/article/did-monsanto-ignore-evidence-linking-its-weed-killer-to-cancer/

An additional limitation in the EPA approval process is that it examines only the main active ingredient in a product—glyphosate, in the case of Roundup—and not the complete formula, which includes inert ingredients. (The IARC’s assessment considered studies of both the full Roundup formula and glyphosate alone.) These additional chemicals are often withheld as trade secrets, making it more difficult for independent researchers to study their risks. But scientists have recently begun to identify many of the other components in Roundup, and have found some to be more toxic to human cells than glyphosate itself.

Plaintiffs claim that Monsanto “knew or should have known that Roundup is more toxic than glyphosate alone” but continued to advertise the product as safe. In a 2002 e-mail, Monsanto product–safety strategist William Heydens wrote to Donna Farmer, one of the company’s leading toxicologists: “What I’ve been hearing from you is that this continues to be the case with these studies—glyphosate is OK but the formulated product (and thus the surfactant) does the damage.” (Surfactants reduce the surface tension of water, helping the herbicide cling to leaves instead of flowing into the soil.)

In a November 2003 e-mail to Monsanto CEO Sekhar Natarajan, Farmer wrote that the company “cannot say that Roundup is not a carcinogen” because “we have not done the necessary testing on the formulation to make that statement.” She added, “We can make that statement about glyphosate and infer that there is no reason to believe that Roundup would cause cancer.”

Achilleaze

(15,543 posts)
27. Dirty Donny* is not the only lying republican hate monger
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 10:59 AM
Oct 2018

so I suppose, using your logic, we cannot fault him for telling lies or inciting any recent massacres. Must be someone else.

* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

womanofthehills

(8,744 posts)
23. Hello - Monsanto just lost a big lawsuit about this
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 09:44 AM
Oct 2018

with thousands of lawsuits to come. You post one web page as your source. The plantiffs in the lawsuit had all the internal memos on the dangers of Roundup.

safeinOhio

(32,713 posts)
3. I remember being told that Round Up
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 05:25 PM
Oct 2018

is very safe, in fact it becomes H2O after 24 hrs. That must have 40 years ago.

NJCher

(35,706 posts)
4. plus we now have plastic in our bodies
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 05:38 PM
Oct 2018

yep, heard about that a couple days ago.

Maybe we'll "evolve" (devolve?) to looking like this:



walkingman

(7,646 posts)
5. As someone just diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 06:49 PM
Oct 2018

I take the herbicide warning very seriously. I don't know if it has anything to do with cancer but there is little doubt that the constant and expanded use of herbicides cannot be good for us in the long run. I tend to distrust the chemical businesses simply because it seems that they have little care about anything other than profit. Welcome to unregulated capitalism.

KT2000

(20,585 posts)
6. the most important question is -
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 06:52 PM
Oct 2018

How much can babies and children tolerate? They do not have fully developed detox systems. When tested, it is in their blood.

Roundup was promoted as safe for humans because we did not have the pathway glyphosate uses - shikimate. Research into the microbiome, that essential collection of bacteria that assist humans and animals with all manner of functions, especially in the digestive tract, does utilize that pathway.

A book I recently read, What is Making Our Children Sick, by Michelle Perro, M.D.,(a pediatrician with 35 years experience) examines the role of toxins in food that could be making babies and children sick with chronic illnesses. Mother's milk even contains these chemicals. Babies and children are presenting with gastro esophageal reflux disease, type 2 diabetes, increases in allergies, and irritable bowel syndrome to name a few. These are all increasing. Doctors are prescribing pharmaceuticals to treat the symptoms, even steroids in some cases. CHILDREN AND BABIES with what are understood to be conditions limited to adults.
This is an experiment being conducted on children.

It is absurd to think that changing the foods we eat into carriers of pesticides and herbicides, all within the last few decades, will have no effect on human health. Inadequate testing is not protective for human health, but it is accepted by the EPA.

Glyphosate is everywhere - neighborhoods reek of it, fresh produce has likely been grown with it and possibly sprayed before harvest to prevent bolting, and it is tracked into homes where if carpets (actually shoe cleaners) are used it will take a longer time to break down.

SidDithers

(44,228 posts)
14. You tell me...
Sun Oct 28, 2018, 07:46 PM
Oct 2018

The article in the OP specifically ask how much is too much, without ever saying how much there is.

So, how much is in mother's milk?

Sid

KT2000

(20,585 posts)
16. any amount
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 01:05 AM
Oct 2018

one of the first things that happens when a baby is born is that it picks up fungi/bacteria from the birth canal. This starts the culturing in the baby's intestinal tract. ( Babies born cesarean have problems because they miss that early process.)
The fungi/bacteria in the gut contain the same pathway (shikimate) that glyphosate interrupts. Nature has provided an efficient method for setting a baby up for a healthy gut and commerce has found a way to screw it up.

HAB911

(8,909 posts)
20. Products With Potentially Unsafe Levels of Glyphosate (Above 160ppb)
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 08:34 AM
Oct 2018

Back to Nature Classic Granola
Quaker Simply Granola Oats (Honey, Raisin and Almonds)
Nature Valley Granola Protein (Oats 'n Honey)
Giant Instant Oatmeal Original Flavor
Quaker Dinosaur Eggs Instant Oatmeal
Great Value Original Instant Oatmeal
Umpqua Oats - Maple Pecan Flavored
Market Pantry Instant Oatmeal
Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal
Lucky Charms (without marshmallows)
Barbara's Multigrain Spoonfuls Cereal
Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran Cereal
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars (Oats 'n Honey)
Quaker Steel Cut Oats
Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats

https://www.newsweek.com/weed-killer-glyphosate-found-quaker-oats-cheerios-cereal-recall-organic-1075454


I also worry as much about plastics

SidDithers

(44,228 posts)
28. EPA allowable level in Group 15 grains is 30 ppm...
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 02:15 PM
Oct 2018

which is 200 times higher than the 160 ppb cited above.

Sid

womanofthehills

(8,744 posts)
21. Oats are the highest because of spraying just before harvest but .....
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 09:26 AM
Oct 2018

wheat, peas, lentils and sugar cane are also sprayed a few days before harvest. Some believe glyphosate feeds the red tide big time in Florida. So if almost everthing you eat has glyphosate, you have a big problem. We are eating glyphosate and "inert ingredients" all day, every day. (I only eat organic, but there is pesticide drift so organic often has traces too). Here is a Canadian study saying one third of all the food samples tested contain glyphosate.

Nearly a third of food samples in CFIA testing contain glyphosate residues
Levels of herbicide exceeded acceptable limits in 1.3% of all foods, 3.9% of grains among 3,188 foods tested

Canada's food regulator has found traces of the controversial herbicide glyphosate in nearly 30 per cent of about 3,200 food products it tested, and residue levels above the acceptable limits in 1.3 per cent of the samples.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's report on testing of glyphosate, Safeguarding with Science: Glyphosate Testing in 2015-2016, was published on its website this week. Glyphosate.is used to kill weeds, but can also be used to dry grains and legumes before they're harvested.

womanofthehills

(8,744 posts)
22. Because the government is lax in testing, many private labs are now testing
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 09:42 AM
Oct 2018

The tests conducted by Anresco were done on 29 foods commonly found on grocery store shelves. According to the report, glyphosate residues were found in:

General Mills' Cheerios at 1,125.3 parts per billion (ppb)

Kashi soft-baked oatmeal dark chocolate cookies at 275.57 ppb

Ritz Crackers at 270.24 ppb

"Frankly, such a high level of glyphosate contamination found in Cheerios, Doritos, Oreos and Stacy's Pita Chips are alarming and should be a wake-up call for any parent trying to feed their children safe, healthy and non-toxic food," Dave Murphy, executive director of Food Democracy Now!," said.

The groups criticized U.S. regulators for setting an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for glyphosate at much higher levels than other countries consider safe. The U.S. has set the ADI for glyphosate at 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (mg/kg/bw/day) while the European Union has set it at 0.3. The EPA is supposed to set an ADI from all food and water sources that is at least 100 times lower than levels that have been demonstrated to cause no effect in animal testing. But critics assert that the EPA has been unduly influenced by the agrichemical industry.




https://www.ecowatch.com/monsanto-glyphosate-cheerios-2093130379.html

roamer65

(36,747 posts)
17. Bean farmers use glyphosate to kill the plants for harvest.
Mon Oct 29, 2018, 01:19 AM
Oct 2018

They do it to get them to dry down for harvest at the same time. It’s done with other food crops as well.

This is the big reason for it being so prevalent in our food supply.

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