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thomas davison

.Monsanto Roundup weedkiller and GM maize implicated in �shocking� new cancer study
19 Sep 2012 | By Elinor Zuke

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The world�s best-selling weedkiller, and a genetically modified maize resistant to it, can cause tumours, multiple organ damage and lead to premature death, new research published today reveals.

In the first ever study to examine the long-term effects of Monsanto�s Roundup weedkiller, or the NK603 Roundup-resistant GM maize also developed by Monsanto, scientists found that rats exposed to even the smallest amounts, developed mammary tumours and severe liver and kidney damage as early as four months in males, and seven months for females, compared with 23 and 14 months respectively for a control group.

�This research shows an extraordinary number of tumours developing earlier and more aggressively - particularly in female animals. I am shocked by the extreme negative health impacts,� said Dr Michael Antoniou, molecular biologist at King�s College London, and a member of CRIIGEN, the independent scientific council which supported the research.

GM crops have been approved for human consumption on the basis of 90-day animal feeding trials. But three months is the equivalent of late adolescence in rats, who can live for almost two years (700 days), and there have long been calls to study the effects over the course of a lifetime.

The peer-reviewed study, conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Caen, found that rats fed on a diet containing NK603 Roundup resistant GM maize, or given water containing Roundup at levels permitted in drinking water, over a two-year period, died significantly earlier than rats fed on a standard diet.

Up to half the male rats and 70% of females died prematurely, compared with only 30% and 20% in the control group. Across both sexes the researchers found that rats fed Roundup in their water or NK603 developed two to three times more large tumours than the control group. By the beginning of the 24th month, 50-80% of females in all treated groups had developed large tumours, with up to three per animal.

By contrast, only 30% of the control group were affected. Scientists reported the tumours �were deleterious to health due to [their] very large size,� making it difficult for the rats to breathe, [and] causing problems with their digestion which resulted in haemorrhaging.

The paper, published in the scientific journal Food and Chemical Toxicology today, concluded that NK603 and Roundup caused similar damage to the rats� health, whether they were consumed together or on their own. The team also found that even the lowest doses of Roundup, which fall well within authorised limits in drinking tap water, were associated with severe health problems.

�The rat has long been used as a surrogate for human toxicity. All new pharmaceutical, agricultural and household substances are, prior to their approval, tested on rats. This is as good an indicator as we can expect that the consumption of GM maize and the herbicide Roundup, impacts seriously on human health,� Antoniou added.

Roundup is widely available in the UK, and is recommended on Gardeners Question Time. But this also represents a potential blow for the growth of GM Foods.

With the global population expected to increase to nine billion by 2050, the UN has said that global food production must increase by 50%. And a consultation led by DEFRA entitled Green Food Project recommended as recently as 10 July 2012 that GM must be reassessed as a possible solution.

Some 85% of maize grown in the US is GM, while 70% of processed foods contain GM ingredients without GM labelling. In the UK and Europe GM maize is not consumed directly by humans but is widely used in animal feed without the requirement for GM labelling.

Antoniou said there could be no doubting the credibility of this peer-reviewed study. �This is the most thorough research ever published into the health effects of GM food crops and the herbicide Roundup on rats.�

Led by Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini, the researchers studied 10 groups, each containing 10 male and 10 female rats, over their normal lifetime. Three groups were given Roundup � developed by Monstanto � in their drinking water at three different levels consistent with exposure through the food chain from crops sprayed with the herbicide.

Three groups were fed diets containing different proportions of Roundup resistant maize at 11%, 22% and 33%. Three groups were given both Roundup and the GM maize at the same three dosages. The control group was fed an equivalent diet with no Roundup or NK603 containing 33% of non-GM maize.

A spokesman for Monsanto said: �We will review it thoroughly, as we do all studies that relate to our products and technologies.�

It goes to show that it's worth doing animal testing, even just to show that this would have been an epidemic that hit the next generation's 40-yr olds. There's no way a normal individual could avoid all GM slipped into various products as they eat out or grab their lunch at a sandwich bar, and going veggie hardly helps either.

Monsanto would tell you its safe as you lay dying, its all about money.

2Anne · Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 399 Location: Norfolk

We use roundup on the weeds in our garden as no doubt millions of others do. As for the GM maize. I imagine America is in deep trouble here for not only do they eat it they feed it to their cattle and dairy beasts.
As for producing more food,how about introducing forced family planning to the thirdworld. ie no contraceptive injection no food for the little jiggaboos at home. Most of Africa expects free food and handouts while they breed like rats and its as bad in the middle East.
I am sick of hearing about world population when it is driven by ignorance,muslim religion and the interfearance of stupid white people with vaccines and clean water.
Let them starve if they insist on producing far more children than they can ever expect to feed or nurture.

thomas davison · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:32 am Post subject:

How GM crops have increased the use of danger pesticides and created superweeds and toxin-resistant insects
By Sean Poulter
PUBLISHED: 16:11, 2 October 2012 | UPDATED: 07:33, 3 October 2012

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Planting GM crops has led to an increase rather than a decrease in the use of pesticides in the last 16 years, according to US scientists.
The researchers said that the plants have caused superweeds and toxin-resistant insects to emerge, meaning farmers have not only had to use more pesticides on their crops overall, but are also using older and more dangerous chemicals.
The findings dramatically undermine the case for adopting the crops, which were sold to farmers and shoppers on the basis that they would reduce the need to be treated with powerful chemicals.
Genetically modified plants now dominate US agriculture, and the situation will only get worse, the professor warns
The team at Washington State University found the weight of chemicals used on US farms has increased by 183million kilos since GM crops were introduced in 1996.
Of that total, herbicide use increased over the 16-year period by 239million kilos while insecticide use decreased by 56million kilos.

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Most GM crops produced to date � such as corn, soya and cotton � have been modified in the laboratory to make them immune to certain weedkillers, such as Monsanto�s RoundUp.
It means the GM plants can thrive while the surrounding weeds are wiped out.
However, the reality is that a number of weeds have developed an immunity to the chemical and are now able to swamp farmers� fields.
The biggest threats are giant ragweed and pigweed, which grows at a rate of more than one inch a day and reaches a height of three metres.
In order to fight rapidly spreading resistant weeds, farmers are being forced to expand use of older, higher-risk herbicides, it is reported
The so-called perfect superweed is extremely hardy, produces 10,000 seeds at a time and will smother food crops in the same field.
The overall effect is that desperate farmers are now using a cocktail of many different chemicals to try and tame the weeds.
A number of GM plants, including some types of corn, have been modified to include a toxin called Bt that kills predator insects that feed on them.
But again, these insects are developing an immunity to the toxin included in the plants, which means farmers have to resort to chemical sprays.
Study leader Professor Charles Benbrook, of the university�s Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, said: �Resistant weeds have become a major problem for many farmers reliant on GM crops and are now driving up the volume of herbicide needed each year by about 25 per cent.

The published research comes two weeks after a feeding trial in rats raised concerns
�Things are getting worse, fast. In order to deal with rapidly spreading resistant weeds, farmers are being forced to expand use of older, higher-risk herbicides.
�To stop corn and cotton insects from developing resistance to Bt, farmers planting Bt crops are being asked to spray the insecticides that Bt corn and cotton were designed to displace.�
Monsanto said they had no immediate comment on the findings.
A spokesman said: �We�re looking at this. Our experts haven�t been able to access the supporting data as yet.�
Professor Benbrook�s paper is published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe and comes two weeks after a feeding trial in rats raised concerns that consuming GM corn might trigger a rise in breast cancer and organ damage.
Recently, scientists who have published studies critical of GM crops and food have suffered a wave of well-orchestrated attacks designed to undermine their work by supporters of the technology.

If your eating it your going to die sooner than you thought with some form of cancer.

thomas davison · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:35 am Post subject:

Russia suspends import and use of American GM corn after study revealed cancer risk The European Food Safety Authority orders review in to the research, conducted at a French university
Russia's decision could be followed by other nations
Experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats - two years
The findings found raised levels of breast cancer, liver and kidney damage
The same trials also found minuscule amounts of a commonly used weedkiller, Roundup

Both the GM corn and Roundup are the creation of US biotech company Monsanto
By Sean Poulter
PUBLISHED: 17:15, 25 September 2012 | UPDATED: 07:57, 26 September 2012

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Russia has suspended the import and use of an American GM corn following a study suggesting a link to breast cancer and organ damage.
Separately, the European Food Safety Authority(EFSA), has ordered its own review in to the research, which was conducted at a French university.
The decision by Russia could be followed by other nations in what would be a severe blow to the take-up of the controversial technology.
Cancer risk? A farmer shows two corncobs of genetically engineered corn by U.S. company Monsanto, right, and two normal corncobs from Germany, left
Historically, biotech companies have proved the safety of GM crops based on trials involving feeding rats for a period of 90 days.
However, experts at the University of Caen conducted an experiment running for the full lives of rats - two years.
The findings, which were peer reviewed by independent experts before being published in a respected scientific journal, found raised levels of breast cancer, liver and kidney damage.
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The same trials also found evidence that consumption of minuscule amounts of a commonly used weedkiller, Roundup, was associated with a raised risk of cancer.
Both the GM corn, which carries the name NK603, and Roundup are the creation of US biotech company Monsanto.
The decision by the Russians to suspend authorisation for the American GM corn threatens to trigger a transatlantic commercial and diplomatic row.
Contentious: A combine harvests corn in a field near Coy, Arkansas. The decision by the Russians to suspend authorisation for the American GM corn threatens to trigger a transatlantic commercial and diplomatic row
Russia�s consumer rights watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, said today that it has suspended the import and use of the Monsanto GM corn.
Rospotrebnadzor said the country�s Institute of Nutrition has been asked to assess the validity of the study.

It has also contacted the European Commission�s Directorate General for Health & Consumers to ask for the EU�s position on the corn�s safety.
Consumer scepticism in the UK and Europe means GM corn is not on supermarket shelves here, however it is fed to farm animals, including hens, pigs and dairy cows.
Important: In the USA, and much of Europe, corn is used to make an array of food products including cornflakes (picture posed by model)
Last week Monsanto said it did not think the French study would affect its license to export the NK603 to Europe but would wait to hear from EFSA.
The company said: �Based on our initial review, we do not believe the study presents information that would justify any change in EFSA�s views on the safety of genetically modified corn products or alter their approval status for genetically modified imports.�

The biotech industry and university researchers involved in GM research have mounted a major PR campaign over the last year to win over sceptical consumers.
In the past week, pro-GM scientists have been lining up to undermine the French experiments and criticise the way they were conducted.
However, a number of independent academics have praised the French team�s work, describing it as the most thorough and extensive feeding trials involving GM to date.
Mustafa Djamgoz, the Professor of Cancer Biology, at Imperial College, London, said the findings relating to eating GM corn were a �surprise�.
Prof Djamgoz, who describes himself as a neutral on GM, said: �The results are significant. The experiments are, more or less, the best of their kind to date.�

However, he said that it is now important to ensure they are repeated with more animals by independent laboratories to confirm the outcome.
�We are not scaremongering here. More research, including a repetition of this particular study are warranted,� he said.
The professor said it will take two to three years to get a definitive answer.

Monsanto is killing you for profit.