By Zine Larbaoui
Evidences establishing a link between pesticides and cancer, or between pesticides and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson are piling up alarmingly. Lately, 44 articles clearly demonstrated correlations between exposure to pesticides and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A French team of the International Agency for Research on Cancer conducted an epidemiological study covering nearly three decades. Hopefully, this it will be taken seriously in the world.
Phenoxy acids and lymphoma: This research studied mainly 6 phenoxy acids that are clearly associated with three types of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. It is obvious that other health risks associated with these herbicides are reported in this study, the best known are the problems of development and reproduction.
Lymphoma, sometimes specified as Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) is a cancer of the blood from the lymphatic system. It is very common in the U.S. as it is the sixth type of cancer among the most common ones. Currently, worldwide, it accounts for about 37% of all cancers.
These data are very disturbing given the fact that the use of these herbicides has excessively increased since the early 2000s. Organophosphorus insecticides or lindane (still used to treat lice) were also associated with the development of NHL. It is the same for the famous glyphosate content in Roundup and manufactured by the multinational Monsanto. Must we remind that the proposed Monsanto resistant weed problem, namely glyphosate solution is one of the active ingredients of the infamous Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War?
A groundbreaking research published last summer revealed a previously unknown damage mechanism caused by glyphosate. The authors concluded that glyphosate residues present in most processed foods in the west potentate the adverse effects of residues and other food or environmental chemical toxins. This only increases the risk of disease.
Residues are found mainly in the glyphosate derivatives from beet, soybean and maize. This would explain in part the increase in health problems, rates of cancer and birth defects over the past decade in countries such as Argentina. Remember that it is precisely during this last decade that these corn and soybeans cultures were introduced and have quadrupled birth defects there. According to experts, the rates of cancer, infertility and endocrine dysfunctions may reach catastrophic levels in Argentina over the next 10-15 years.
Other countries such as Sri Lanka, India and the Pacific coast of Central America (El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) account for the deaths of tens of thousands of farmers because of the toxic marriage with Roundup and other fertilizers.
These diseases and other abnormalities are similar to those presented by Vietnam veterans or those who have affected hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese children born shortly after the war.
Despite its many human disasters, this product, incredibly remains one of the most used herbicide around the world.
Sources:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/argentines-link-health-problems-agrochemicals-2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24762670
http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/04/superweeds-arent-only-trouble-gmo-soy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23584031
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/stats.html#use
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