2023-11-21 19:01:00
“Both glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides cause leukemia in rats at young ages and at low doses of exposure.” This is the conclusion of the researchers of the Global Glyphosate Study (Ggs) led by the Ramazzini Institute of Bologna, reported on the ‘bioRxiv’ preprint platform and reported to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Chemicals Agency (Echa). “These results on leukemia are of such great importance for public health that we have decided to make the complete data public”, says Daniele Mandrioli, GGS coordinator, director of the ‘Cesare Maltoni’ Cancer Research Center of the Ramazzini Institute.
In this long-term study – the Emilian structure explains – glyphosate alone and two commercial formulations of herbicides, Roundup BioFlow (MON 52276) used in the EU and Ranger Pro (EPA 524-517) used in the United States, were were administered to rats through drinking water starting from prenatal life, at doses of 0.5, 5 and 50 mg/kg body weight/day. These doses are currently considered safe or free of adverse effects by regulatory agencies. They include the EU Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) and No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for glyphosate.
“About half of the leukemia deaths observed in rats exposed to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides – reports Mandrioli – occurred at less than one year of age. In contrast, no cases of leukemia were observed below the age of year of age in more than 1,600 untreated control Sprague-Dawley rats, i.e. not exposed to glyphosate, “studied by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the United States and the Ramazzini Institute”.
For Philip Landrigan of Boston College, physician and president of the International Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ramazzini Institute, “these new findings on leukemia in rats exposed to glyphosate are very worrying for public health for two reasons. First, leukemias have occurred at very low exposure levels, similar to those to which millions of people in the EU and the US are exposed daily. Second, these leukemias occurred at a young age, which raises the possibility of a causal association between glyphosate and childhood leukemia”.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) established already in 2015 that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans”, recalls the Ramazzini Institute in a note.
The Global Glyphosate Study – we read – is the most comprehensive toxicological study ever conducted on glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides. It provides vital data for regulators, policy makers and the general public. Examines the impact of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, multigenerational effects, multi-organ toxicity, endocrine disruption, and prenatal development.
The GGS is coordinated by the Ramazzini Institute and involves scientists from the United States, South America and Europe. Scientists from Boston College, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, George Mason University, University of California Santa Cruz, the Federal University of Parana, King’s College London, University of Copenhagen, Higher Institute of healthcare, National Research Council, University of Bologna, Policlinico San Martino in Genoa.
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