A King’s College London team led by Robin Mesnage and Michael Antoniou has published in Nature Scientific Reports a first-ever metabolomic analysis of the impact of very, very low chronic exposures to formulated glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) on rat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Hygeia Analytics is pleased to provide access to the full Mesnage et al. paper; the authors’ two-page summary document; and this synopsis developed to inform the public by Claire Robinson of GMWatch.
According to a summary done by the authors, “The study is unique in that it is the first to show a causative link between consumption of Roundup at a real-world environmental dose and a serious disease condition.”
In another study published before Christmas 2016, they reported multiple changes in proteins and enzymes impacting liver and kidney health, among other things. This new study released yesterday goes a worrisome step further by identifying clear linkages between very low-level GBH exposure and non-alcoholic liver disease, a common and serious public health problem.
There will no doubt be much more said about this study over the next several weeks and months, since it clearly drives home two key points — the liver and kidney are among the most sensitive organs following GBH exposures, and second, exposure to formulated products containing glyphosate behave differently, and pose more significant risks, than exposures to 100% pure glyphosate.
These papers by the King’s College-led team are creating heartburn for regulators for several reasons. The sizable changes in liver enzymes and proteins in animals administered the very low dose of GBH over two years undermines the claim that GE crops pose no health risks at low doses.
Virtually all glyphosate herbicide mammalian toxicity studies have been done using pure glyphosate. Dozens of previous studies have shown that GBHs are 10-X to over 150-X more toxic than pure glyphosate, and now this study even establishes a possible link to a serious and common disease.
Hopefully, this compelling new science will convince regulators to commission independent scientists to conduct a new round of mammalian toxicity tests using both pure glyphosate AND common, formulated glyphosate-based herbicides. Failure to do so in the wake of this recent, cutting edge science would be well beyond irresponsible.
Source:
Robin Mesnage, George Renney, Giles-Eric Séralini, Malcom Ward, and Michael N. Antoniou; “Multiomics reveal non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats following chronic exposure to an ultra-low dose of Roundup herbicide,” Nature Scientific Reports, 2017 (in press).