Roundup is endocrine-disrupting, cancer-causing toxin at parts per trillion levels; GM soybeans also linked to causing cancer

Friday, October 18, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Roundup, glyphosate, breast cancer

(NaturalNews) The journal Food and Chemical Toxicology (FCT) has accepted for publication a new study that links exposure to Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, the active ingredient of which is glyphosate, to severe endocrine disruption and breast cancer. And the worst part is that the chemical was found to elicit these and other harmful effects at virtually imperceptible levels in the parts per trillion range, which is far below the levels that commonly occur in the environment and the food supply as a result of misguided corporate agriculture practices.

Researchers from the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute in Bangkok, Thailand, learned of glyphosate's extreme toxicity after reviewing a cohort of studies on the chemical and subsequently compiling their own investigatory assessment based on independent tests of glyphosate. It was already previously known that glyphosate tends to be estrogenic, and that both consumption of and exposure to it through food and water can promote the growth of breast cancer cells. But what was not fully understood is at what concentration the toxin causes such problems.

We now know, however, thanks to the new analysis, that pure glyphosate acts on estrogen receptors (ERs) in the body to promote the growth of hormone-dependent breast cancer cells at levels far below what millions of people are exposed to every single day through the general food supply. Exposure to glyphosate at levels as low as one part per trillion, or 10 to the negative 12 (10-12), was found to exert clear xenoestrogenic effects that promote the growth and spread of breast cancer cells.

"These effects indicate that glyphosate is a 'xenoestrogen,' capable of inducing Estrogen Response Elements (EREs) in a manner, slightly weaker but functionally similar to the most potent human estrogen Estradiol (E2)," writes Sayer Ji for GreenMedInfo.com about the study's findings.

Study results suggest Roundup-Ready GM soybeans a primary driver of breast cancer epidemic as well

This is particularly concerning as glyphosate has been detected in human urine samples at levels as high as 233 parts per billion, according to earlier studies, which is 233,000 times higher than the rough minimum amount of glyphosate determined to cause breast cancer in the new study. But it gets even worse. The new study also revealed that Roundup-Ready, genetically-modified (GM) soybeans, which are also highly estrogenic, contribute to the problem as well.

According to the new data, genistein, the primary phytoestrogen found in unfermented soy and soy products, is also a significant breast cancer-causing agent. Together with glyphosate, exposure to and consumption of soybeans and soy-based products, and particularly those of GM origin, appears to be a leading cause of the ever-worsening breast cancer epidemic that we are witnessing today.

"This study implied that the additive effective of glyphosate (Roundup) and genistein (Roundup-Ready GM soybeans) in postmenopausal women may induce cancer cell growth," wrote the study authors in their abstract. "Furthermore, this study demonstrated the additive estrogenic effects of glyphosate and genistein which implied that the use of glyphosate-contaminated soybean products as dietary supplements may pose a risk of breast cancer because of their potential additive estrogenicity."

Soy-based additives, as many NaturalNews readers are already well aware, are found in virtually every processed food available on the market today. And virtually all of this conventional soy is of GM origin, which means it is religiously sprayed with glyphosate - and has been for more than a decade - which coincides directly with the sharp uptick in breast cancer rates that has also occurred during this same time period. Coincidence? This new study and others like it seem to suggest not.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23756170