Monsantos Darkest Secret: Roundups Effect On The FetusDr. Kelly Brogan and Sayer Ji At their first prenatal appointment, pregnant women are doled out a list of NOs including deli meats, fish, and unpasteurized cheese. There is a growing awareness of the fact that this list may be dangerously NON EXHAUSTIVE (and largely misguided, especially when it comes to unpasteurized dairy and eggs). Even a recent,bold pronouncement by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, attempted to sound the alarm about chemical exposures with recommendations for unproven but potentially harmful exposures. They describe the importance of considering chemicals in personal care products, overthe-counter medications and supplements, metals and industrial pollutants in fish, and pesticides. However, they dilute their message by making statements such as Realistically, pesticides are so rigorously regulated that human exposure via food residues is usually minimal, even in nonorganic products. Unfortunately, the concept of dose makes the poison is no longer operative in a world of multiple, synergistic chemical exposures, the toxicity of whichappears to be contingentupon each individuals endocrine and immune system. The limitations of human resilience are revealed in the vulnerability of a growing fetus. A mystically orchestrated process, conception,embryogenesies, and the interplay of an incalculably vast number of variables defies our ability to comprehend how these instructions could be folded into two cells, the egg and the sperm. The study ofepigenetics, or the environmental influence on genetic expression, has given us a keyhole look into this vast room of fetal development. We have learned thatavailability of nutrients,presence of stress hormones, and evenbeneficial bacteriaall contribute to optimal expression of fetal genes. This expression is relevant not just for the proper growth of fingers and toes, but for the long-term health of the offspring. This concept is called thefetal origins of adult disease, and has helped to elucidate the early underpinnings of chronic diseases like cancer and obesity. To date, toxicologists are ill-equipped to assess for these long-term epigenetic effects, butanimal studiesare revealing transgenerational inheritance of pesticide-induced defects. In 2010, after a dramatic increase in reports of birth defects in Argentina (a four-fold increase) since 2002,a lab study was performedthat found low doses of the active ingredient in Roundup known asglyphosate, the most prevalent herbicide worldwide, causes birth defects in frog and chicken embryos. This study was followed by others demonstrating cardiac anomalies, embryonic death, andmultifocalmalformations suspected to be related to oxidized vitamin A toxicity caused byglyphosate. A morerecent studyin tropical fish has echoed this dose-related concern with harrowing outcomes: survival and hatching percentage decreased asglyphosateconcentration increased. Absence of pectoral fin(s) and cornea, permanently bent tail, irregular shaped abdomen, and cell disruption in the fin, head and abdomen are among the commonteratogeniceffects observed. These studies represent only the tip of a vast, submerged iceberg of research, which clearly showglyphosatecauses birth defects, and that the pesticide industry has known about for asurprisinglylong period of time. Earth Open Source, A group of independent scientists (thinknotpaid to scientifically support corporations) published a compendium of literature that they calledRoundup and Birth Defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?stating, The pesticide industry and EU regulators knew as long ago as the 1980s-1990s that Roundup, the worlds best selling herbicide, causes birth defects but they failed to inform the public. The report was the byproduct of an international collaboration of concerned scientists and researchers, and reveals in shocking clarity how the industrys own studies show Roundup causes birth defects in laboratory animals. One of the damning studies was even commissioned by Monsanto, the manufacturer of the herbicide. The findings of the report were summarized as follows: The EU Commission had previously ignored or dismissed many other findings from the independent scientific literature showing that Roundup andglyphosatecause endocrine disruption,damage to DNA,reproductiveand developmental toxicity,neurotoxicity, andcancer, as well as birth defects. Many of these effects are found at very low doses, comparable to levels of pesticide residues found in food and the environment, challenging the notion that there is such thing as a safe threshold of exposure. In the realm of persistent andbioaccumulativepesticides and herbicides, testing only the active ingredient or AP may leave manufacturers falsely reassured. Toxicant synergy has exploded the simplistic notion of the dose makes the poison and a critical paper inBiomedResearch International entitledMajor Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principlesaimed to address flawed assumptions around pesticide and herbicide toxicity, finding that Monsantos Roundup may be up to10,000 times more toxic than glyphosate alone. Similar to the non-placebo-controlled trials on vaccines,adjuvantsand preservatives are seen as irrelevant bystanders in the consideration of risk profile. As the top of the food chain, infants are most susceptible to thisbioaccumulation, and to passage of Roundup into their growing systems.Moms Across America and Sustainable Pulsehave demonstrated the first ever quantification of Roundup inbreastmilk. They found that in 3/10 samples from around the country,breast milkcontained levels760-1600xhigher than is permissible by the European Drinking Water Directive. American urinary samples contained levels10xhigher than that of Europeans, and the 3 highest levels were in women. Monsanto has told us not to worry, before. The deleterious effects of DDT, Agent Orange, and PCBs were only acknowledged after decades of accumulated evidence of irreversible danger to human lives. This preliminary data calls for a cease and desist of allglyphosatespraying until and if appropriate safety testing can be undertaken that accounts for the signal of presence and and persistence in fetal circulation, breast milk, and the environment at large, in the context of evidence of harm. Until organic andbiodynamicfarming takes more pervasive hold, avoid these unstudied chemicals by focusing onorganic produce,pastured animal foods, andnon-GMO labeled products. We must stand up in protest against this nonconsensual experiment affecting all forms of life on the planet. This article first appeared at GreenMedInfo. Please visit to access their vast database of articles and the latest information in natural health. 