Massive Rise in Childhood Leukemia ‘Likely’ Caused by Glyphosate
The Global Glyphosate Study, a multi-institutional long-term study coordinated by the Ramazzini Institute, today released data linking glyphosate-based weedkillers, like Monsanto-Bayer’s Roundup, to the 35% rise in childhood leukemia since 1975.
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Childhood Leukemia and leukemia in young adults has increased by an estimated 35% since 1975, with an increase most recently of around 1% a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A group of independent scientists from around the world could have just discovered one of the reasons for this — glyphosate-based weedkillers, including Bayer’s Roundup.
The overall incidence of pediatric cancer in the U.S. increased by 0.5% annually on average between 2003 and 2019, according to a CDC study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in July, with a larger rate of increase in childhood leukemia being the major driver of this worrying trend.
Leukemia is now by far the most common cancer in kids.
“When you see an increase like that — that fast — in a short period of time, most likely it is going to be driven by some exposure to environmental factors,” says Catherine Metayer, M.D., Ph.D., an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, stated recently.
On Wednesday the Global Glyphosate Study presented their first data, which shows that the most widely used weedkiller in the world is likely to be a major cause of the massive rise in childhood leukemia.
This multi-institutional international toxicological study has found that low doses of glyphosate-based herbicides cause leukemia in rats. Importantly, half of the leukemia deaths identified in the study groups occurred at an early age.
In this long-term study, glyphosate alone and two commercial formulations, Roundup BioFlow (MON 52276) used in the European Union (EU) and Ranger Pro (EPA 524-517) used in the U.S., were administered to rats via drinking water beginning in prenatal life, at doses of 0.5, 5 and 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day.
These doses are currently considered safe by regulatory agencies and correspond to the EU’s acceptable daily intake and the EU’s no observed adverse effect level for glyphosate.
Dr. Daniele Mandrioli, the coordinator of the Global Glyphosate Study and the director of The Ramazzini Institute, stated on Wednesday:
“About half of the leukemia deaths seen in the rats exposed to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides occurred at less than one year of age.
“By contrast, no cases of leukemia have been observed below one year of age in more than 1600 Sprague-Dawley rats studied over the past two decades by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Ramazzini Institute.”
The Global Glyphosate Study is the most comprehensive toxicological study ever conducted on glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides. It provides vital data for government regulators, policymakers and the general public.
It examines the impacts of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, multi-generational effects, organ toxicity, endocrine disruption and prenatal developmental toxicity. Multiple peer-reviewed papers from the study are set to be published from early 2024 onwards.
Mandrioli concluded:
“These findings are of such great relevance for public health that we decided it was vital to present them now in advance of publication. The full data will be made publicly available and submitted for publication in a scientific journal in the coming weeks.”
The Global Glyphosate Study findings on glyphosate’s toxicity to the microbiome, which were peer-reviewed and published in late 2022 and presented at the EU Parliament in 2023, also showed adverse effects at doses that are currently considered safe in the EU (0.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, equivalent to the EU Acceptable Daily Intake).
The Global Glyphosate Study previously published a pilot study, which showed endocrine and reproductive toxicity in rats at glyphosate doses currently considered safe by regulatory agencies in the U.S. (1.75 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day).
These findings were later confirmed in a human population of mothers and newborns exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy.
This multi-institutional study, coordinated by the Ramazzini Institute, involves scientists from Europe, the U.S. and South America, giving extra weight to the results.
Scientists are involved in the study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, George Mason University, the University of Bologna, the University of Copenhagen, Boston College, the Italian National Institute of Health, Federal University of Parana, University of California Santa Cruz and Genoa Hospital San Martino.
The Global Glyphosate Study has been funded by crowdfunding and requires even more support from the public to perform analysis on all the data they are collecting.
Glyphosate info
- Test your food and water at home for glyphosate.
- Test your hair for glyphosate and other pesticides.
- Glyphosate Residue Free certification for food brands.
