Relevant to James Fischer's post re the ubiquity of glyphosate in pollen, honey, and its possible links to cancer, I recently discovered that it's been implicated in a host of other diseases (notably celiac) as per this article:
Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II
Interdisciplinary Toxicology, 2013 Dec; 6(4): 159–184
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/
Some highlights:
"Celiac disease is associated with imbalances in gut bacteria that can be fully explained by the known effects of glyphosate on gut bacteria...Glyphosate suppresses 5-enolpyruvylshikimic acid-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase), the rate-limiting step in the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, in the shikimate pathway of bacteria, archaea and plants. In plants, aromatic amino acids collectively represent up to 35% of the plant dry mass. This mode of action is unique to glyphosate among all emergent herbicides. Humans do not possess this pathway, and therefore we depend upon our ingested food and our gut microbes to provide these essential nutrients. Glyphosate, patented as an antimicrobial (Monsanto Technology LLC, 2010), has been shown to disrupt gut bacteria in animals, preferentially killing beneficial forms and causing an overgrowth of pathogens. Two other properties of glyphosate also negatively impact human health – chelation of minerals such as iron and cobalt, and interference with cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which play many important roles in the body."
The article also pointed out that glyphosate residues in wheat and other crops such as sugar cane are increasing due to its increased use for of crop desiccation before harvest, and possibly implicated in the increase in kidney disease seen in cane harvesters.
I was motivated to look into this after viewing the documentary "What's with Wheat?" on Netflix recently, in which it was claimed that glyphosate was a causal factor in celiac disease and possibly non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
My takeaway (as a non-scientist) is that glyphosate might be less overtly harmful than the pesticides it replaced, but it's far from benign, and supposedly persists in soil for 20 years. Might neonics also have similar insidious effects that haven't yet come to light? Compared to Europe, the USDA and FDA is notorious for erring on the side of business over our health. Along with reports of bad research design, scandals over falsified test results, "politicized" science, etc that hit the media, it's even more difficult for the layperson to sort out what's what. The film's worth a look, and the article is unsettling.
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