Critical Observer

PESTICIDE IN 70% OF HONEY SAMPLES TESTED - HARVARD STUDY

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The Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) issue you keep hearing about (the phenomenon that is killing our bees and butterflies), well it just got real again with a study from Harvard. The study shows that 70% of honey samples collected in Massachusetts contain at least one neonicotinoid, the pesticide class that biotech companies say have nothing to do with the bee die offs we are seeing around the world. 
 
The new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health appears in the Journal of Environmental Chemistry. Chensheng (Alex) Lu, associate professor of environmental exposure biology in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study, states: 
 
 “Data from this study clearly demonstrated the ubiquity of neonicotinoids in pollen and honey samples that bees are exposed to during the seasons when they are actively foraging across Massachusetts. Levels of neonicotinoids that we found in this study fall into ranges that could lead to detrimental health effects in bees, including CCD.” 
 
Scientists, policymakers, farmers, and beekeepers have been alarmed at the rates in which bees and other pollinators are dying, leaving approximately a third of crops in a fragile position worldwide since they depend on pollination to produce. 
 
Though other studies have shown neonic residues in honey and pollen samples collected at one point in time, this particular study shows how pervasive the problem has become. Researchers took samples over summer and spring months, when bees are normally foraging, from the same set of hives around Massachusetts. 
 
They determined that variable levels of 8 neonicotinoids were present by working with 62 Massachusetts beekeepers who volunteered to collect monthly samples of pollen and honey from foraging bees. This was done by using pollen traps on the landings of beehives. The beekeepers then sent the samples to the researchers. 
 
The researchers analyzed 219 pollen and 53 honey samples from 62 hives, from 10 out of 14 counties. They found neonicotinoids in pollen and honey from almost every sample collected, in each and every location — suggesting that bees are at risk of neonicotinoid exposure any time they are foraging anywhere in the state. This is likely the outcome of CCD due to pesticide exposure in other areas as well. 
 
The most commonly-detected neonicotinoid was imidacloprid, followed by dinotefuran. Particularly high concentrations of neonicotinoids were found in Worcester County in April, in Hampshire County in May, in Suffolk County in July, and in Essex County in June, suggesting that, in these counties, certain months pose real risks to bees. 
 
Lu pointed out: “The data presented in this study should serve as a basis for public policy that aims to reduce neonicotinoid exposure.” 
 
This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

PESTICIDE IN 70% OF HONEY SAMPLES TESTED - HARVARD STUDY

The Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) issue you keep hearing about (the phenomenon that is killing our bees and butterflies), well it just g...

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CALIFORNIA TO LABEL MONSANTO’S ROUNDUP AS ‘CARCINOGENIC’

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Sacramento, CA – The state of California’s Environmental Protection Agency has moved to begin labeling glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, as a known carcinogen. 
 
Biochemical giant Monsanto has found itself under increased scrutiny after the World Health Organization recently announced that glyphosate is likely carcinogenic to humans. 
 
Then just last week, researchers issued a warning about potential adverse long-term health effects. The warning comes after they found that long-term exposure to minuscule amounts (thousands of times lower than what is allowed in drinking water in the US) could lead kidney and liver damage. 
 
The EPA’s announcement is an official “notice of intent” to label the product as a known carcinogen, which allows the public to comment on the proposed listing through October 5, 2015. 
 
According to a report in the East Bay Express: 
 
The action falls under Proposition 65, a measure voters approved in 1986 that requires the state to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harms. The state regularly updates the list, which now includes hundreds of chemicals. Under Prop 65, businesses must provide a “clear and reasonable” warning before exposing people to a chemical on the list. The warning could be labels on a consumer product, workplace postings, distributed notices at apartment buildings, or a notice published in a newspaper. 
 
 
The listing neither restricts, nor bans the herbicide, but environmental activists are hopeful that the listing could eventually lead to more restrictions on the chemicals usage. 
 
“California’s taking an important step toward protecting people and wildlife from this toxic pesticide,” Nathan Donley, staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation nonprofit based in San Francisco, said in a statement. 
“It’s nearly impossible for people to limit exposure to this toxin because it is just so widespread. That’s why we need much tighter controls on its use.” Donley said, adding that the US uses more than 250 millions pounds of glyphosate annually. 
The activist hopes these actions will serve as an impetus for greater federal involvement in regulating this potential carcinogen. 
 
The Center for Biological Diversity claims that glyphosate residue is now found on 90 percent of GM soy and that world use of the chemical is at an all-time high. 
 
by JAY SYRMOPOULOS | FREE THOUGHT PROJECT

CALIFORNIA TO LABEL MONSANTO’S ROUNDUP AS ‘CARCINOGENIC’

Sacramento, CA – The state of California’s Environmental Protection Agency has moved to begin labeling glyphosate, the main ingredient in...

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OVER 4000 ‘GENES’ ALTERED WITH LOW-DOSE ROUNDUP EXPOSURE

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Liver and kidney damage due to a diet full of genetically modified food has already been shown in a notable, yet controversial study that was once forced to be retracted, and then later republished by the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology. This study, titled the “Long Term Toxicity of Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize” is joined now by a new, peer-reviewed study showing that even at the levels of glyphosate the general public is exposed to in drinking water, over 4000 genes and their proper functioning are altered in the livers and kidneys of rats. 
 
Are we affected too? 
 
Published in the Environmental Health Journal, the new study suggests that even super low levels of Roundup exposure are deadly. 
 
The study results showed that exposure to low-dose glyphosate concentrations, in an established laboratory animal toxicity model system, can result in liver and kidney damage, with potential significant health implications for people as well as our pets and wildlife populations. 
 
 
Here is an overview given by the study abstract: 
 
“Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are the major pesticides used worldwide. Converging evidence suggests that GBH, such as Roundup, pose a particular health risk to liver and kidneys although low environmentally relevant doses have not been examined. To address this issue, a 2-year study in rats administering 0.1 ppb Roundup (50 ng/L glyphosate equivalent) via drinking water…was conducted. 
 
A marked increased incidence of anatomorphological and blood/urine biochemical changes was indicative of liver and kidney structure and functional pathology….” 
This follow-up investigation conducted by Dr. Michael Antoniou’s team at King’s College London was a follow up to Seralini’s 2-year study of rats exposed to Roundup that the biotech industry tried desperately to silence. Sites like the Genetic Literacy Project are still attempting to dismiss Seralini’s findings, but with additional studies like Antoniou’s, their arguments become baseless. 
 
Here’s why: 
 
The Seralini investigation administered a commercial Roundup formulation at 0.1 ppb (parts per billion)/50 ppt (parts per trillion) glyphosate via drinking water for 2 years.Liver and kidney pathologies were found in the rats. The new study by Dr. Antoniou’s team investigated whether heightened liver and kidney pathology observed at an anatomical and biochemical level was reflected in the gene expression pattern. “Transcriptome” was analyzed, by comparing liver and kidney tissues from the Roundup treatment group with those of the control animals.Here’s what Dr. Antoniou said about what they found, “The findings of our study are very worrying as they confirm that a very low level of consumption of Roundup weedkiller over the long term can result in liver and kidney damage. Our results also suggest that regulators should re-consider the safety evaluation of glyphosate-based herbicides.” 
Dr. Antoniou and his team also found that a consistent pattern of alteration was found in the gene function of the liver and kidneys at this extremely low level of exposure. 
More than 4000 of the genes in the rats studied were found to have either increased or decreased function, and over 1300 of these affected both organs. 
The changes were highly statistically significant. This was not a small sample size that was affected. 
The gene changes affected important biological functions like respiration and metabolism. 
The gene changes caused health issues such as fibrosis (scarring), necrosis (the creation of areas of dead tissue), phospholipidosis (disturbed fat metabolism) and damage to mitochondria (the center of respiration in cells). 
These changes in pathology were confirmed at multiple levels: histological (through a microscope), and biochemical (by testing blood and urine samples.) 
Considering that the European Union and Australia have water which is 14,000 times lower in glyphosate levels than that permitted in drinking water in the USA, we can expect to see greater liver and kidney pathologies, as did the rats. 
 
The researchers noted that the observed liver and kidney pathologies may have arisen from glyphosate, the adjuvants present in the Roundup formulation, or a combination of the two. They also still do not understand how Roundup caused this increased pathology specifically, but given the extremely low doses at which pathology occurred, it is likely the upset happens through the endocrine system, and hormonal interference. 
 
With both Seralini and Antoniou’s work we now have more evidence that Roundup causes damage to the liver and kidneys. Despite this, and the numerous other findings, such as the recent news from Argentina that children are suffering from genetic damage at heavily sprayed GM soy sites in the country, there has been no international move to heavily examine Roundup, and hold Monsanto accountable for its poisoning of the people. 
 
Will we have to wait decades, as we did with lawsuits surrounding Monsanto-made Agent Orange or PCBs to finally receive partial restitution for the insidious actions of a corporation with no soul? 
 
“The backlog of Agent Orange cases needing attention at the Veterans Administration has been placed at half a million.  Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has declined to find the chemical companies responsible for Agent Orange health problems, in the US or Vietnam.” 
Will Monsanto and its best-selling herbicide, Roundup, have its way with the population to such a large degree that we will have to stand by idly and watch as multiple generations suffer physical and mental damage? 
 
The results rest largely on our shoulders, as we have seen our elected officials care little about the damage that Big Biotech unleashes on the world. I urge you to ask that farmers in your area stop spraying Roundup, tell that stores to stop selling it, only eat organic food (also demanding that grocery stores stop selling chemically covered GM foods) and of course, when you can, grow your own organic food. 
 
This article originally appeared at Natural Society.

OVER 4000 ‘GENES’ ALTERED WITH LOW-DOSE ROUNDUP EXPOSURE

Liver and kidney damage due to a diet full of genetically modified food has already been shown in a notable, yet controversial study that...

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HAWAII’S SPIKE IN BIRTH DEFECTS PUTS FOCUS ON GM CROPS

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Pediatrician Carla Nelson remembers catching sight of the unusually pale newborn, then hearing an abnormal heartbeat through the stethoscope and thinking that something was terribly wrong. 
 
The baby was born minutes before with a severe heart malformation that would require complex surgery. What worried her as she waited for the ambulance plane to take the infant from Waimea, on the island of Kauai, to the main children’s hospital in Honolulu, on another Hawaiian island, was that it was the fourth one shehad seen in three years. 
 
In all of Waimea, there have been at least nine in five years, she says, shaking her head. That’s more than 10 times the national rate, according to analysis by local doctors. 
 
Nelson, a Californian, and other local doctors find themselves in the eye of a storm swirling for the past three years around the Hawaiian archipelago over whether a major cash crop on four of the six main islands, corn that’s been genetically modified to resist pesticides, is a source of prosperity, as the companies claim – or of birth defects and illnesses, as the doctors and many others suspect. 
 
by CHRISTOPHER PALA | THE GUARDIAN | AUGUST 24, 2015

HAWAII’S SPIKE IN BIRTH DEFECTS PUTS FOCUS ON GM CROPS

Pediatrician Carla Nelson remembers catching sight of the unusually pale newborn, then hearing an abnormal heartbeat through the stethosc...

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