Glyphosate was detected in the urine and organs of dairy cows as well as in urine of hares, rabbits and humans in a new study - and chronically ill people had higher levels of the pesticide in urine.
Cows fed on GM-free feed had lower glyphosate concentrations in urine than cows fed with feed containing GMOs - yet another nail in the coffin for claims that products from GM-fed animals are no different from products from animals fed on non-GM feed. Humans eating predominantly organic food had lower levels of glyphosate in urine.
The finding that chronically ill humans had higher levels of glyphosate in urine than healthy humans suggests that high excretion of glyphosate cannot be assumed to be a sign of a healthy body that is efficiently eliminating the pesticide. This finding demands further research on the potential bioaccumulation of glyphosate in the human body.
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Detection of glyphosate residues in animals and humans
Monika Krüger, Philipp Schledorn, Wieland Schrödl, Hans-Wolfgang Hoppe, Walburga Lutz and Awad A. Shehat
Detection of Glyphosate Residuals in Animals and Humans. J Environ Anal Toxicol 4: 210. doi: 10.4172/2161-0525.1000210
Open access: http://omicsonline.org/open-access/detection-of-glyphosate-residues-in-animals-and-humans-2161-0525.1000210.pdf
Abstract
In the present study glyphosate residues were tested in urine and different organs of dairy cows as well as in urine of hares, rabbits and humans using ELISA and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). The correlation coefficients between ELISA and GC-MS were 0.96, 0.87, 0.97and 0.96 for cattle, human, and rabbit urine and organs, respectively. The recovery rate of glyphosate in spiked meat using ELISA was 91%. Glyphosate excretion in German dairy cows was significantly lower than Danish cows. Cows kept in genetically modified free area had significantly lower glyphosate concentrations in urine than conventional husbandry cows. Also glyphosate was detected in different organs of slaughtered cows as intestine, liver, muscles, spleen and kidney. Fattening rabbits showed significantly higher glyphosate residues in urine than hares. Moreover, glyphosate was significantly higher in urine of humans with conventional feeding. Furthermore, chronically ill humans showed significantly higher glyphosate residues in urine than healthy population. The presence of glyphosate residues in both humans and animals could haul the entire population towards numerous health hazards, studying the impact of glyphosate residues on health is warranted and the global regulations for the use of glyphosate may have to be re-evaluated.