Page 36 - Fall2013

OTHER HEALTH TROUBLES RELATED TO GLYPHOSATE

As if it weren’t enough already that glyphosate causes an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the gut, interferes
with the supply of critical neurotransmitters to the brain and nervous system, and likely disrupts vitamin D activation,
bile acid synthesis, cholesterol homeostasis, and sulfate synthesis and transport, there are several other ways in which
glyphosate could do harm. Here I will touch upon four topics: endocrine disruption, liver damage, abdominal obesity,
and breast cancer. Additional topics are discussed in our original paper. For example, glyphosate also chelates important
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micronutrients like zinc and cobalt. 14

EnDOcRInE DISRUPTIOn: Glyphosate is an established endocrine disruptor and studies have shown it inhibits aro-
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matase, a cYP enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen. Aromatase is synthesized in the testes, and this may
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explain why autism is far more prevalent in males than in females. Autism is associated with aromatase deficiency, and
some have attempted to explain autism as a “super male” syndrome on the basis of overproduction of testosterone and
insufficient estrogen. Retinoic acid is intimately involved in embryonic development. Low doses of glyphosate caused
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many deformities in frog and chick embryos due to overexpression of retinoic acid. The enzyme that breaks down
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retinoic acid is a cYP enzyme, so its disruption would explain glyphosate’s effects. One can expect similar effects in
humans. Fertility rates have been declining sharply in many countries where glyphosate usage is increasing. Most strik-
ing are countries in South America such as Argentina and Brazil. Women in Brazil used to have six children on average,
but now the fertility rate is less than that of the U.S. Argentina’s fertility rate has been declining ever since 1978. Both
Brazil and Argentina produce a significant amount of the world’s supply of soybeans—most of which are engineered to
be “Roundup® Ready.” While it’s difficult to sort out the role played by social pressure, it is possible that glyphosate’s
disruption of aromatase and retinoic acid could be a factor in declining fertility rates.
LIvER DAMAGE: According to our hypothesis, phenols are sulfated in the gut and transported through the hepatic
portal vein to the liver in this sulfated form. In the liver, the sulfate is detached and most likely transferred to cholesterol
to produce bile acids. Once freed from sulfate, phenolic compounds become fat-soluble and highly reactive, and they
can readily cross cell membranes and do damage to cell contents. Phenols have been shown to cause damage to the
kidneys, liver, muscles, and eyes. They induce the formation of organic radicals and reactive oxygen species that can
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damage lipids and DnA, which explains their ability to induce cancer. However, a much worse problem in the liver is
the disruption of cYP enzymes, because the liver contains many cYP enzymes that are involved in detoxifying xeno-
biotics—both drugs and environmental toxins. With impaired cYP function, these other toxic chemicals linger longer,
causing much more damage than they would otherwise. In fact, an inability to break down acetaminophen (Tylenol) has
been proposed as a possible factor in autism. This can easily be explained by glyphosate’s potential disruption of the
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cYP enzyme that detoxifies Tylenol. The inflammation associated with the overgrowth of pathogens in the gut leads to
the production of cytokines like TNF-∂ by macrophages, brought in to keep the pathogens in check. Cytokines induce
inflammation, which damages the gut, liver and pancreas. TNF-∂ has been identified as a key factor in fatty liver disease,
which has emerged as a growing public health problem worldwide. In the extreme case, liver pathology develops into
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nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (nASH), which can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure.
ABDOMInAL OBESITY: It is easy to imagine a possible role for fat cells in protecting the liver from damage caused by
the toxic phenols. Abdominal obesity can be viewed as providing a way station where sulfate can be transferred from
one carrier molecule to another. The toxic phenols can thus deliver sulfate to fat cells in the belly, which then transfer it
to a sterol to produce estrone sulfate, a well established “export” molecule from fat cells. Thus estrone then carries the
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sulfate to the liver, and the phenol never reaches the liver or the pancreas, where it could have damaged the DnA of
cells with important roles. The liver and pancreas are never exposed to the toxic phenolic compound, and are therefore
safeguarded from damage. Thus, abdominal obesity becomes a defense mechanism to deflect the phenols towards a
tissue where damage is more forgivable, since the fat cells do not perform the kinds of critical metabolic roles that liver
or pancreatic cells perform.

BREAST cAncER: One in three women in the U.S. is now expected to develop breast cancer at some point in their
lives. A study on rats that were administered food that had been treated with Roundup throughout their lives showed an
alarming incidence of massive mammary tumors in the female rats along with liver and kidney disease in the males, and
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premature death for both males and females. After our paper was published, a study came out showing that glyphosate,
even in trace amounts (parts per trillion) could induce breast cancer cells to proliferate; that is, it promotes tumor growth. 53

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