Water technology Online is one of our favourite water websites and this article is derived from their excellent summation of Glyphosate in water
What is ‘Roundup’? (Glyphosate)
It is…
- a broad spectrum herbicide, introduced by Monsanto Corporation over 40 years ago.
- A post-emergent systemic herbicide. It kills almost all plant types ~ weeds, grasses, shrubs, trees.
- Its chemical formula is C3H8NO5P.
- It is probably the most widely used agricultural herbicide for residential lawns.
- Production is more than 720,000 metric tons per year.
- Biodegradable by soil microbes.
- Detected in 36 percent of stream samples, in nine Midwestern US states. nO large scale testing has been performed in Australia.
- Commonly found in some retail cereals, fruit and vegetables.A potent herbicide. You need only 3 to 4 pounds per hectare.
- The reason for genetically modified, glyphosate-resistant transgenic corn; cotton; canola; and soybean varieties are widely planted, allowing farmers to continue use of Glyphosate.
What is it doing to us?
Previously, multiple reviews of the toxicology of glyphosate conclude that it has low toxicity with no cancer risk. However, a recent review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (using the same data) concluded that it is probably carcinogenic to humans. A further small number of studies provided mixed results in highest exposure groups. Conclusions were a ‘non-statistically significant’ result for lymphocytic leukemia or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Another recent study conducted by researchers from Argentina found that glyphosate altered cellular proliferation — or cell growth — and incited structural changes to uterine cells in animal models. While animal testing is not something that should be condoned, their research nonetheless showcased that exposure to glyphosate resulted in catastrophic changes to uterine development in newborn, female rats.
The World Health Organization has already reported on glyphosate’s potential to cause cancer — a fact that the EPA was aware of nearly thirty years ago. Sustainable Pulse reports that an EPA panel classified glyphosate as a Class C carcinogen in 1985, meaning that there is “suggestive evidence of carcinogenic potential.” Of course, all things are subject to change — and this classification was changed in 1991 to a Class E, indicating no evidence of carcinogenicity.
Glyphosate alters human DNA
(28 July 2016) A new review of scientific literature has linked glyphosate, the active chemical in Monsanto’s number one selling herbicide, Round Up, to a range of different diseases through a new mechanism that modifies DNA functioning. The authors of the study found that, “Glyphosate acts as a glycine analogue that incorporates into peptides during protein synthesis. In this process, it alters a number of proteins that depend on conserved glycine for proper function. According to the authors, glyphosate substitution for glycine correlates with several diseases, including diabetes, obesity, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Parkinson’s disease, among others.” If this isn’t enough to prove that the ‘probably carcinogenic’ chemical should be actively avoided in our diet then we wonder what is?
A whopping 93 percent of Americans were found to have Glyphosate in their urine samples during a testing project that began in 2015.
Water treatment
First what is done at your local treatment works. Some, all or none of these processes may be carried out at your local water works. Processes include Chlorination, ozonation, advanced oxidation processes, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis.
Second, what you can do if you lack faith in your local works or you have ascertained that their treatment doesn’t do enough. A good water filter using activated carbon will filter Roundup, and if it’s really, really good it will also filter carcinogenic chlorine and chloramines, plus the very nasty trihalomethanes common in any water where organics and chlorine occur.