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<\/a><\/p>\nLong-term intake of the Monsanto\u2019s most popular Roundup herbicide, even in very small amounts lower than permissible in US water, may lead to kidney and liver damage, a new study claims.<\/p>\n
The research, conducted by an international group of scientists from the UK, Italy and France, studied the effects of prolonged exposure to small amounts of the Roundup herbicide and one of its main components \u2013 glyphosate.<\/p>\n
In their study, published<\/a>\u00a0in Environmental Health on August 25, the scientists particularly focused on the influence of Monsanto\u2019s Roundup on gene expression in the kidneys and liver.<\/p>\n In the new two-year study, which extended the findings from one conducted in 2012, the team added tiny amounts of Roundup to water that was given to rats in doses much smaller than allowed in US drinking water.<\/p>\n Scientists say that some of the rats experienced \u201c25 percent body weight loss, presence of tumors over 25 percent bodyweight, hemorrhagic bleeding, or prostration.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The study\u2019s conclusions indicate that there is an association between wide-scale alterations in liver and kidney gene expression and the consumption of small quantities of Roundup, even at admissible glyphosate-equivalent concentrations. As the dose used is \u201cenvironmentally relevant in terms of human, domesticated animals and wildlife levels of exposure,\u201d<\/em> the results potentially have significant health implications for animal and human populations, the study warned.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were more than 4,000 genes in the liver and kidneys [of the rats that were fed Roundup] whose levels of expression had changed,\u201d<\/em> the study\u2019s leading scientist, Michael Antoniou, head of the Gene Expression and Therapy Group at King\u2019s College London, said, as quoted by the Environmental Health News.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven even very low levels of exposure, Roundup can potentially result in organ damage when it comes to liver and kidney function,\u201d<\/em> he added. \u201cThe severity we don\u2019t know, but our data say there will be harm given enough time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The results of the study have received mixed reviews in the scientific community, although many scientists have expressed their concern about possible negative health effects from Roundup use.<\/p>\n Taking into account that the team \u201cused very low dose levels in drinking water <\u2026> this study should have some kind of public health influence,\u201d<\/em> said Nichelle Harriott, the science and regulatory director at Beyond Pesticides, a Washington, DC based nonprofit organization, as quoted by the Environmental Health News.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what to make of such changes, they may be meaningful and may not,\u201d<\/em> said Bruce Blumberg, a professor from the University of California, who did not take part in the study.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t say which caused what, but what you have is an association \u2013 the group treated with a little Roundup had a lot of organ damage and the gene expression findings supported that,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, the use of glyphosate in herbicides has increased by more than 250 times in the United States in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n Research conducted in 2014 and published<\/a>\u00a0in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health linked the use of Monsanto\u2019s Roundup to widespread chronic kidney disease that took the form of an epidemic in Sri Lanka. Another study<\/a>\u00a0showed that Monsanto agrochemicals may have caused cellular and genetic diseases in Brazilian soybean workers.<\/p>\n Additionally, the World Health Organization\u2019s International Agency for Research on Cancer has recently determined that Roundup\u2019s glyphosate is \u2018number one\u2019 among carcinogens, \u201cpossibly\u201d<\/em> causing cancer.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n