Glyphosate testing in Portugal detects highest levels ever recorded in people with no professional exposure
by: Julie Wilson
NaturalNews.com
Friday, May 20, 2016
Worldwide, glyphosate contamination is rampant. Around 650,000 tons of the chemical, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, were applied globally in 2011. Unsurprisingly, the widely used weed killer is in our water supplies, soil and conventionally grown crops. Now, thanks to independent testing, we’re beginning to understand how glyphosate, a probable carcinogen, accumulates in people.
Testing conducted by the Portuguese No GMO Coalition and the Detox Project is the latest to discover the presence of glyphosate in human urine. However, their results are unique in that they detected substantially higher levels of the weed killer than any other tests performed in Europe in people with no professional exposure to glyphosate.
The urine of 26 Portuguese volunteers was tested; glyphosate was identified in 100 percent of the samples. Sadly, children had the highest amounts of the weed killer in their urine. This revelation follows on the heels of a report linking pesticide exposure to childhood cancers.
Scientists have long understood the vulnerability of children regarding pesticide exposure.
“Quickly growing bodies take in more of everything; they eat, breathe and drink more, pound for pound, than adults. As physiological systems undergo rapid changes from the womb through adolescence, interference from pesticides and industrial chemicals—even at very low levels—can derail the process in ways that lead to significant health harms,” explains the Pesticide Action Network.
The test results showed that “the three youngest volunteers (aged between 7 and 19 years old) presented an average value higher … than the whole group,” reports Sustainable Pulse. The average level of glyphosate in the volunteer’s urine was 26.2 ng/ml, an amount far higher than what similar testing in Germany found.
Last year, when Germany tested 2,000 urine samples for glyphosate, the average level was 1.1ng/ml, and the highest 4.2 ng/ml. Child volunteers had higher levels of glyphosate in their urine in this round of testing, as well.
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