I’ve spoken up in the past in support of GMOs. Full disclosure: My interest is in Genetic Engineering as a technology, being quite marvelous and useful. What Monsanto, Cargill, et al. do in their business practices is a separate discussion that I don’t intend to address here. Everyone is welcome to share their opinions. That being said, I admit to a bias: I genuinely believe Genetic Engineering is a powerful and safe tool, when used responsibly, and I hope to see it continue to solve global problems. As a science it is ethically neutral, but I readily accept that how we use it should continue to generate controversy.
Today’s discussion is about a new study that suggests that glyphosate (Monsanto’s RoundUp product) may be linked to kidney failure. The authors describe a potential mechanism and provide epidemiological evidence linking the use of glyphosate to kidney failure in a few key locations. Glyphosate is tightly coupled with the GMO controversy because Monsanto genetically engineers food-crops to be resistant to glyphosate so it can be used as an herbicide. Monsanto sells both glyphosphate and the GMO crops, generating an inherent conflict of interest. But this combination also astronomically improves the yield and energy usage in agriculture, worldwide.
The mechanism of damage itself is quite complicated. In the targeted areas, there are several compounding factors that all conspire to create an unsafe water supply rather than glyphosate itself directly causing kidney failure.
As it turns out, glyphosate was originally patented (according to this study) as a “chelating” agent in addition to its biological properties. What this means is that it binds to metal and minerals, effectively enabling it to dissolve away these elements and wash them away. “Glyphosate was initially used as a descaling agent to clean out calcium and other mineral deposits in pipes and boilers of residential and commercial hot water systems”. Yikes.
Glyphosate’s properties of chelation affect how it travels through the environment in many ways. After it has been sprayed on crops it can potentially avoid degradation for longer than intended as it begins to bind with metals. The areas that are seeing these new high kidney failure rates also all have extraordinarily hard water, containing calcium and heavy metals, such as cadmium and arsenic. The study claims that this is not by itself a problem because of our bodies’ own capacity to filter these out. However, when combined with glyphosate, there exists a proposed mechanism that, over time, concentrates a “Glyphosate-metal Complex” in the water supply. This is the culprit in kidney failure.
That, of course, is paraphrasing and I might have made technical mistakes. This is all well above my understanding of chemistry, but the takeaway is that glyphosate has the potential to increase exposure to heavy metals in areas with existing adverse water supply conditions. This is bad. Socioeconomics also play a role here as the most vulnerable are farmers, who in these poor areas are manually spraying glyphosate with little to no personal protection. In addition, the water supply itself is often not treated.
Take a look at the illustration; there is a full water supply cycle described that requires high exposure by farmers, pathways through the water system, and the resulting increase in concentration by the general public.
Now, for some takeaways. First, glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide in the world. As such, it has been rigorously studied for it’s safety and is generally considered to be the safest option for the large scale industrial agriculture complex required to feed the planet. This new information, however, appears to be revealing a weak spot and I think it deserves closer inspection. In the United States, we are probably not vulnerable to this problem because of how our water supply system works and our awareness of the potential dangers of chemicals sprayed on crops. Farmers have automated spraying and presumably use personal protection when handling the stuff. We also wash our fruits and vegetables before eating.
It is also worth noting that all herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers are chemicals. Even organic farmers spray this stuff. Whether naturally occurring or man-made, all of these agents are chemically active and should be studied. Some may find this ironic, but I actually feel safer eating GMO foods sprayed with glyphosate specifically because of how rigorously these things are studied. The people that worry about this stuff are the ones that go to Whole Foods and shovel pseudoscientific, non-FDA approved chemicals in their faces. That’s what *I* think is ironic.
If this link to kidney failure is true, glyphosate is potentially hazardous. The technical part of the study was way (way way) over my head, but I accept their premise. It should be studied in more depth. I tried to give this a fair shake because I want to be fair and honest in my analysis of the safety of GMOs. If I’m going bother writing big effort posts trying to persuade people, I want to make sure I believe it. At current and in my own opinion, this danger is not enough to warrant panic in the first world. I hope the study inspires others to get to the bottom of the issue and do the right thing in these problem areas.
Practice safe-handling. Understand food safety. Wash your fruits and vegetables. Cook your chicken to 165F+. Be merry. Be ready to change your mind.
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2125