I Got My Body Analyzed for Glyphosate Residue
7/21/2015 9:27:00 AM
By Hannah Kincaid
Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular Roundup herbicide, and when I learned that I could affordably have my body tested for glyphosate accumulation, I immediately jumped on board. People get tested all the time to see if their vitamin levels are deficient, and some pay big bucks to test hormone levels and genetic history. Why not see if you’re playing landlord to a toxic tenant?
My Test Results
I’ve eaten an all-organic diet for years, and filter most of my drinking and cooking water. With the exception of occasional restaurant meals, I consume organically-grown, local-when-possible, whole foods. This goes a long way toward avoiding glyphosate and other non-organic pesticides and herbicides; however, I live in Kansas, where the rolling fields are overrun with “Roundup-Ready” crops. If there was ever a part of our nation where glyphosate pollutes the water and unavoidably creeps through the air, it’s my prairie homeland.
The glyphosate test that I took part in was conducted by Moms Across America, and participants could choose to have either their urine, breast milk or home’s tap water tested. I chose urine, because I wanted to see how my organic diet and agriculture-heavy location factor together. About a week after I sent off my sample, I received a short email, “Your test results are <7.5 ppb.” To which I thought, “OK … Is that good?”
I went to the Moms Across America website to compare my results with others across the nation. It turns out that 7.5 ppb (parts per billion), is the lowest detectable limit that the test is capable of finding. Yes! I’m either at or below the lowest detection level! I congratulated myself for eating organic and patted myself on the back. I celebrated too early, though, because as I scrolled further down the page I discovered that 7.5 ppb is still way higher than anything deemed “OK” by the standards of many other countries. For example, in 2013, 182 urine samples from 18 European countries were tested for glyphosate levels, and the highest result was 1.8 ppb in Latvia (and they weren’t thrilled). My test results of <7.5 ppb could still potentially be about 6 times higher than anything found in the European study — and I’m lucky — a test respondent from Oregon had levels at 18.8 ppb.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other U.S.-based regulatory bodies have created rules for how much glyphosate is allowed in drinking water, and these rules are based on the assumption that the toxin isn’t bio-accumulative. Glyphosate is water soluble, so it’s been assumed that if you eat a peach with glyphosate on or in it, then within a few days your body will expel the toxin and everything is peachy keen. However, the Moms Across America testing found “high” glyphosate levels in three out of 10 breast milk samples submitted. This discovery questions the assumption that glyphosate is not bio-accumulative, and it points to the idea that this toxic chemical is indeed building up in our bodies faster than it can be expelled. We’re passing it along to our sensitive infants via breast milk (and even umbilical cords) before our children even have a chance to be exposed first-hand via pesticide drift, drinking water and non-organic foods.
According to the test’s summary, “The levels found in breast milk testing are 760 to 1,600 times higher than the European Drinking Water Directive allows for individual pesticides. They are, however, less than the 700 ug/l maximum contaminant level for glyphosate in the U.S.” It was after reading this conclusion that it hit home for me just how much glyphosate accumulation our government is willing to deem “safe,” despite the lack of long-term, peer-reviewed, unbiased studies.
Continued...
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Zippyjuan
Site Information
About Us
- RonPaulForums.com is an independent grassroots outfit not officially connected to Ron Paul but dedicated to his mission. For more information see our Mission Statement.
Connect With Us