French Researchers Speculate Roundup May Cause Human Cell Damage
French researchers Nora Benachour and Gilles-Eric Seralini recently published a third article examining the effect of Roundup® brand agricultural herbicide formulations on cultured human cells.
In this publication they report on a series of experiments where unprotected cells in a Petri dish were exposed to glyphosate, AMPA (a metabolite of glyphosate), POEA (a surfactant-like substance) and a number of glyphosate-containing formulations including Roundup® Express, Roundup® Bioforce®, Roundup® Grands Travaux and Roundup® GT Plus.
Benachour and Seralini said this work “clearly confirms that the adjuvants in Roundup formulations are not inert. Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even death around residual levels to be expected, especially in food and feed derived from [Roundup] formulation-treated crops.”
According to Brad Mitchell, a director of public affairs at Monsanto, some of the financial support for this research came from the Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering (CRIIGEN). Seralini has been the chairman of the Scientific Council for CRIIGEN since 1999. Seralini and this organization are well known for their anti-biotechnology positions.
“These Petri dish experiments, like the previous related experiments from Seralini’s group, have no relevance to a living animal and provide no information about real-world risks to humans,” Donna Farmer, Monsanto’s chemistry stewardship lead, said. “Instead, they tell us what we already know; that substances can injure unprotected cells in a test-tube.”
“The experiments were conducted in very artificial conditions and the results are not relevant for proving toxicity in humans,” Farmer said. “Caffeine was used in a similar Petri dish experiment with the same results. The surfactant effects are also not surprising—surfactants found in a variety of personal care products and household detergents can alter the function of cells in Petri dish experiments.”
“Additionally, the current body of animal data also contradicts the findings of the Petri dish experiments,” Farmer said. “Glyphosate has an excellent human health and environmental profile, and a long history of safe use for over 30 years in more than 130 countries. Roundup Ready crops treated with Roundup brand glyphosate herbicide formulations are as safe as conventional crops.”
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[Translated] Very interested by today’s question on roundup, I wanted to know how you can explain this enormous chasm between the various information received on this product. Based on the results of Prof Sralini’s studies, we can easily renounce (to using?) the product. However, you (Monsanto) say, the works of these famous ‘anti-biotechnologists’ are not trustworthy and far from reality. Can you engage yourself in a promise that the products which nevertheless represent an enormous gain/earning for you and your company are, in the long run (long term) only an advantage for Humanity and the Environment?
Trs intresse par la question d'aujourd'hui consernante ROUNDUP, je voudrais savoir comment est-ce que Vous pouvez expliquer cet norme dcalage des informations sur ce produit? En se basant sur les rsultats issus des tudes du professeur Sralini, on pourra trs facilement renoncer le produit. Or, selon Vous, les travaux de ces fameux "anti-biotechnologistes" ne seront pas fiables et loin de la ralit. Pourriez-Vous Vous engager une promesse que les produits qui reprsentent malgr tout un norme gain pour Vous et Votre compagnie ne sont long terme qu'un avantage pour l'humanit et l'environnement?