5 ms·

Such pesticides and other toxic chemicals not only cause cancer, but they also explain the increasing infertility in the West as explainable by germline damage

Such pesticides and other toxic chemicals not only cause cancer, but they also explain the increasing infertility in the West as explainable by germline damage in both men and women. This should worry you a lot. Please refer to: [1] Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations: Generational Toxicology. (2019) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31011160 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31011160 > The transgenerational pathologies observed include prostate disease, obesity, kidney disease, ovarian disease, and parturition (birth) abnormalities. Epigenetic analysis of the F1, F2 and F3 generation sperm identified differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs). A number of DMR associated genes were identified and previously shown to be involved in pathologies. Therefore, we propose glyphosate can induce the transgenerational inheritance of disease and germline (e.g. sperm) epimutations. Observations suggest the generational toxicology of glyphosate needs to be considered in the disease etiology of future generations. [2] Environmental toxicant induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of ovarian pathology and granulosa cell epigenome and transcriptome alterations: ancestral origins of polycystic ovarian syndrome and primary ovarian insuffiency. (2018) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30207508 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30207508 [3] The epigenetic impacts of endocrine disruptors on female reproduction across generations. (2019) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31077281 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31077281

pkaye 7y ago
So what is the safer alternative to Glyphosate?
- QuickToBan 7y ago
  Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. Unfortunately, USDA has been doing a terrible job with their USDA Organic certification. It is firstly very expensive. Secondly, it is no guarantee that glyphosate is not present. This could be due to fraud or negligence. Third, it is subject to lobbying to legalize nasty synthetic pesticides as being Organic. The USDA needs to step up and do its job. Meanwhile, I nevertheless advocate buying Organic. Use a warm solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in which to dissolve fruits like apples and others for 12-15 minutes. It helps dissolve a fair portion of the pesticides, but is not a substitute for buying Organic. Refer to https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-soda-washes-all.html https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-s...
  - jcranmer 7y ago
    > Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. This is patently false. Natural pesticides and herbicides are almost always more toxic to humans than synthetic pestices and herbicides, in large part because minimizing human toxicity is one of the goals in the chemical research programs.
    - alexandercrohde 7y ago
      Source please?
    - dqv 7y ago
      What are some examples of organic pesticides that are less safe than glyphosate?
      - chicob 7y ago
        Rotenone, a naturally ocurring herbicide. Known cause of Parkinson's disease.
      - tptacek 7y ago
        Isn't "less safe than glyphosate" is a weird metric, since glyphosate is relatively safe compared to other chemical herbicides? Wouldn't atrazine be a better comparison?
      - jcranmer 7y ago
        Copper sulfate is one.
        pkaye 7y ago
        Copper Sulfate is toxic to birds, mammals, insects, etc. It has a lower LD50 than glyphosate. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic-than-glyphosate-copper-sulfate-used-by-organic-and-conventional-farmers-cruises-to-european-reauthorization/ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic...
        7y ago
- inflatableDodo 7y ago
  Solar powered weeding robots, big greenhouses and indoor hydroponics. Apparently environment control is the largest use of energy in farming, so much so, that you can actually use less energy by growing under lights.
- oneplane 7y ago
  There are plenty of alternatives, but none of them are easy money. They are in the order of slightly-less-easy-money all the way down to intense-changes-but-still-earn-well. That is also the problem, as any change that even costs a cent on the bottom line is a cultural no-no.
- feld 7y ago
  Nothing. Don't listen to this guy. Glyphosate is not a pesticide, it's an herbicide. Anyone using the wrong terminology is a conspiracy theorist you can safely ignore.
  - Mediterraneo10 7y ago
    I’m afraid it is you who are unfamiliar with the terminology, for glyphosate is commonly classed among "pesticides" in scholarly parlance.[0] [0]https://scholar.google.pl/scholar?hl=pl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=glyphosate+pesticide&btnG= https://scholar.google.pl/scholar?hl=pl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=glyph...
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- shaki-dora 7y ago
  "One study found that not using pesticides reduced crop yields by about 10%"[0] That's not terribly bad. There are also communities of organic farmers working on methods to improve yields without pesticides. There is a lot still to be learned (and re-learned) about crop cycling, for example. Other ideas are mixed fields with different crops, new tilling protocols etc. Some pesticides are also legal under different certification schemes. Sulfur, for example, is the most used pesticide in the EU. Pyrethroid is allowed under some schemes, and it's actually a drug approved for human use (lice), and therefore (and because it's rather old) thought to be safe at the far lower doses one is exposed to via the food chain. The chart https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pflanzenschutzmittel#/media/Datei:Pesticides_vs._fertilizers.png https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pflanzenschutzmittel#/media/Da... is also rather interesting, in that it shows highly diverging use of pesticides and fertilizers across EU countries. There is no definitive pattern here, with Sweden and the Netherlands as the extremes on opposite sides, two countries that are rather similar both in economics as well as climate. Spain/Italy/Portugal might be high because they have much larger shares of multi-year crops such as wine and olive trees, while yearly crops such as corn and wheat are less susceptible because the diseases die with the plants every year. OTOH, at least olives aren't fertilized I believe. What's also interesting is the positive correlation between pesticide use and fertilizer use. I expected the opposite, i. e. farmers compensating for expected losses to disease with increased fertilizer and vice versa. This not happening may point at a cultural issue at play here, with some farmers choosing these tools excessively, or maybe a lack of knowledge of alternatives. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Benefits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Benefits
leakybit 7y ago
too bad glyphosate isn't one of the chemicals listed in the article.
- patient_zero 7y ago
  Perhaps because it is not banned currently. It is scheduled to be banned in 2022 by the EU parliament.

pkaye 7y ago

So what is the safer alternative to Glyphosate?

QuickToBan 7y ago
Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. Unfortunately, USDA has been doing a terrible job with their USDA Organic certification. It is firstly very expensive. Secondly, it is no guarantee that glyphosate is not present. This could be due to fraud or negligence. Third, it is subject to lobbying to legalize nasty synthetic pesticides as being Organic. The USDA needs to step up and do its job. Meanwhile, I nevertheless advocate buying Organic. Use a warm solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in which to dissolve fruits like apples and others for 12-15 minutes. It helps dissolve a fair portion of the pesticides, but is not a substitute for buying Organic. Refer to https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-soda-washes-all.html https://suppversity.blogspot.com/2017/10/nahco3-aka-baking-s...
- jcranmer 7y ago
  > Organic (natural) pesticides tend to be safer. This is patently false. Natural pesticides and herbicides are almost always more toxic to humans than synthetic pestices and herbicides, in large part because minimizing human toxicity is one of the goals in the chemical research programs.
  - alexandercrohde 7y ago
    Source please?
  - dqv 7y ago
    What are some examples of organic pesticides that are less safe than glyphosate?
    - chicob 7y ago
      Rotenone, a naturally ocurring herbicide. Known cause of Parkinson's disease.
    - tptacek 7y ago
      Isn't "less safe than glyphosate" is a weird metric, since glyphosate is relatively safe compared to other chemical herbicides? Wouldn't atrazine be a better comparison?
    - jcranmer 7y ago
      Copper sulfate is one.
      - pkaye 7y ago
        Copper Sulfate is toxic to birds, mammals, insects, etc. It has a lower LD50 than glyphosate. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic-than-glyphosate-copper-sulfate-used-by-organic-and-conventional-farmers-cruises-to-european-reauthorization/ https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/03/20/far-more-toxic...
      - 7y ago
inflatableDodo 7y ago
Solar powered weeding robots, big greenhouses and indoor hydroponics. Apparently environment control is the largest use of energy in farming, so much so, that you can actually use less energy by growing under lights.
oneplane 7y ago
There are plenty of alternatives, but none of them are easy money. They are in the order of slightly-less-easy-money all the way down to intense-changes-but-still-earn-well. That is also the problem, as any change that even costs a cent on the bottom line is a cultural no-no.
feld 7y ago
Nothing. Don't listen to this guy. Glyphosate is not a pesticide, it's an herbicide. Anyone using the wrong terminology is a conspiracy theorist you can safely ignore.
- Mediterraneo10 7y ago
  I’m afraid it is you who are unfamiliar with the terminology, for glyphosate is commonly classed among "pesticides" in scholarly parlance.[0] [0]https://scholar.google.pl/scholar?hl=pl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=glyphosate+pesticide&btnG= https://scholar.google.pl/scholar?hl=pl&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=glyph...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
shaki-dora 7y ago
"One study found that not using pesticides reduced crop yields by about 10%"[0] That's not terribly bad. There are also communities of organic farmers working on methods to improve yields without pesticides. There is a lot still to be learned (and re-learned) about crop cycling, for example. Other ideas are mixed fields with different crops, new tilling protocols etc. Some pesticides are also legal under different certification schemes. Sulfur, for example, is the most used pesticide in the EU. Pyrethroid is allowed under some schemes, and it's actually a drug approved for human use (lice), and therefore (and because it's rather old) thought to be safe at the far lower doses one is exposed to via the food chain. The chart https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pflanzenschutzmittel#/media/Datei:Pesticides_vs._fertilizers.png https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pflanzenschutzmittel#/media/Da... is also rather interesting, in that it shows highly diverging use of pesticides and fertilizers across EU countries. There is no definitive pattern here, with Sweden and the Netherlands as the extremes on opposite sides, two countries that are rather similar both in economics as well as climate. Spain/Italy/Portugal might be high because they have much larger shares of multi-year crops such as wine and olive trees, while yearly crops such as corn and wheat are less susceptible because the diseases die with the plants every year. OTOH, at least olives aren't fertilized I believe. What's also interesting is the positive correlation between pesticide use and fertilizer use. I expected the opposite, i. e. farmers compensating for expected losses to disease with increased fertilizer and vice versa. This not happening may point at a cultural issue at play here, with some farmers choosing these tools excessively, or maybe a lack of knowledge of alternatives. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Benefits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide#Benefits

leakybit 7y ago

too bad glyphosate isn't one of the chemicals listed in the article.

patient_zero 7y ago
Perhaps because it is not banned currently. It is scheduled to be banned in 2022 by the EU parliament.