Exposure to controversial and commonly used herbicide glyphosate has been associated with the development of liver disease in humans, reveals a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
A team led by Paul J. Mills, PhD, professor and chief in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, examined glyphosate excretion in the urine samples of two patient groups those with a diagnosis of NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD), and those without.
Monsanto's Glyphosate Now Most Heavily Used Herbicide
About 18.9 billion pounds (8.6 billion kilograms) of glyphosate have been used globally. Glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called Roundup Ready.
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‘Prevalence of the liver disease is on the rise in the United States due to the exposure of glyphosate, the main ingredient in the popular weed killer Roundup (herbicide).’
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The results, they found, were significant: Regardless of age, race, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity or diabetes status, glyphosate residue was significantly higher in patients with NASH than it was in patients with a healthier liver.
The findings, coupled with prior animal studies, said Mills, suggest a link between the use of commercial glyphosate in our food supply, which has increased significantly over the past 25 years, and the prevalence of NAFLD in the United States, which too has been on the rise for two decades.
![Glyphosate is Carcinogenic, Stop Spraying it on Coca Plantations: Colombian President]( "Glyphosate is Carcinogenic, Stop Spraying it on Coca Plantations: Colombian President")
President Juan Manuel Santos said that Colombia should find other ways to destroy illicit coca plantations, instead of using the dangerous herbicide Glyphosate.
"There have been a handful of studies, all of which we cited in our paper, where animals either were or weren't fed Roundup or glyphosate directly, and they all point to the same thing: the development of liver pathology," said Mills. "So I naturally thought: 'Well, could it be exposure to this same herbicide that is driving liver disease in the U.S.?'"
The study examined urine samples of 93 patients. Forty-one percent were male; 42 percent were white or Caucasian; 35 percent were Hispanic or Latino. Average BMI was 31.8. Patients were originally recruited as part of a larger study at the UC San Diego NAFLD Research Center conducted between 2012 and 2018. Liver biopsies were used to determine the presence or absence of NAFLD while classifying the subjects by cohort.
Mills plans to put a group of patients on an all-organic diet next and track them over the course of several months, examining how a herbicide-free diet might affect biomarkers of liver disease.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the United States; it was developed and patented by agrochemical giant Monsanto in the 1970s, and its sales represent approximately 50 percent of the company's annual revenue.
"The increasing levels [of glyphosate] in people's urine very much correlates to the consumption of Roundup-treated crops into our diet," said Mills. But while researchers say this study shows a link between herbicide exposure and liver disease in human subjects, Mills said much work remains to be done.
"There are so many synthetic chemicals we are regularly exposed to," he said. "We measured just one."
Source: Eurekalert
Glyphosate is Carcinogenic, Stop Spraying it on Coca Plantations: Colombian President
President Juan Manuel Santos said that Colombia should find other ways to destroy illicit coca plantations, instead of using the dangerous herbicide Glyphosate.
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"There have been a handful of studies, all of which we cited in our paper, where animals either were or weren't fed Roundup or glyphosate directly, and they all point to the same thing: the development of liver pathology," said Mills. "So I naturally thought: 'Well, could it be exposure to this same herbicide that is driving liver disease in the U.S.?'"
The study examined urine samples of 93 patients. Forty-one percent were male; 42 percent were white or Caucasian; 35 percent were Hispanic or Latino. Average BMI was 31.8. Patients were originally recruited as part of a larger study at the UC San Diego NAFLD Research Center conducted between 2012 and 2018. Liver biopsies were used to determine the presence or absence of NAFLD while classifying the subjects by cohort.
Mills plans to put a group of patients on an all-organic diet next and track them over the course of several months, examining how a herbicide-free diet might affect biomarkers of liver disease.
Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the United States; it was developed and patented by agrochemical giant Monsanto in the 1970s, and its sales represent approximately 50 percent of the company's annual revenue.
"The increasing levels [of glyphosate] in people's urine very much correlates to the consumption of Roundup-treated crops into our diet," said Mills. But while researchers say this study shows a link between herbicide exposure and liver disease in human subjects, Mills said much work remains to be done.
"There are so many synthetic chemicals we are regularly exposed to," he said. "We measured just one."
Source: Eurekalert
Punjab Government Bans the Sale of Herbicide Glyphosate
Cancer-causing herbicide, glyphosate is banned by the Punjab government as the exposure to the weedicide has the potential to damage human DNA.
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European Union Delays Re-Approval For GlyphosateThe European Commission have delayed their decision on rolling over the approval for glyphosate in the face of fierce lobbying from both sides on the issue. | Advertisement
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