Recommended Reading

Assessment of Glyphosate Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Pathologies and Sperm Epimutations: Generational Toxicology

Notes: 

• I’m guessing the complexity of the title might be a bit off-putting to some readers, but I invite you to stick with me on this because it’s very important, (and I’m going to do my best to summarize the key points here so you don’t actually have to read it if you don’t want to). 

• The study linked to above investigates the effects of glyphosate exposure on lab rats, and, more importantly, their children, grandchildren, and great-grand children.

• Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, and is the most widely applied herbicide in the United States. 

• Initial studies on glyphosate seemed to suggest that it was relatively safe. In many of these studies, rats were exposed to the chemical, and didn’t go on to develop health problems. These days, glyphosate exposure is being linked to the development of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma in humans, but unsurprisingly, chemical companies are calling this claim into question.

• The study linked to above suggests that, in addition to Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, glyphosate exposure can lead to several other incredibly serious health problems. The reason why this fact has slipped under the radar for so long is because these problems generally don’t manifest in those exposed, but do manifest in their descendants. 

• It seems very likely that these effects may also be present in the descendants of humans who have been exposed to glyphosate (i.e, a huge portion of the population) and that glyphosate exposure may be partially to blame for the rapidly rising rates of obesity and other forms of chronic disease that we are seeing in America. 

Excerpts from the Study 

• “In summary, glyphosate was found to promote the epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease and pathology through germline (i.e. sperm) epimutations. Negligible pathology was observed in the F0 and F1 generations (those exposed, and their children), while a significant increase in pathology and disease was observed in the F2 generation grand-offspring and F3 generation great-grand-offspring. Therefore, glyphosate appears to have a low or negligible toxic risk for direct exposure, but promotes generational toxicology in future generations. Observations suggest generational toxicology needs to be incorporated into the risk assessment of glyphosate and all other potential toxicants, as previously described45. The ability of glyphosate and other environmental toxicants to impact our future generations needs to be considered, and is potentially as important as the direct exposure toxicology done today for risk assessment.”

• The transgenerational pathologies (the diseases which appeared in the later generations) observed include prostate disease, obesity, kidney disease, ovarian disease, and parturition (birth) abnormalities.

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Glyphosate and AMPA In U.S Steams, Groundwater, Precipitation, and Soils

• “Herbicides containing glyphosate are used in more than 130 countries on more than 100 crops. In the United States (U.S.), agricultural use of glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] has increased from less than 10,000 metric tons per year (active ingredient) in 1993 to more than 70,000 metric tons per year in 2006. In 2006, glyphosate accounted for about 20 percent of all herbicide use (by weight of active ingredient).”

  – In 2019, an EPA report stated:

  “About 280 million pounds (127,005 metric tons) of glyphosate are applied to an average of 298 million acres of crop land annually.”

• “Glyphosate and AMPA were detected (reporting limits between 0.1 and 0.02 micrograms per liter) in samples collected from surface water, groundwater, rainfall, soil water, and soil, at concentrations from less than 0.1 to more than 100 micrograms per liter. Glyphosate was detected more frequently in rain (86%), ditches and drains (71%), and soil (63%); and less frequently in groundwater (3%) and large rivers (18%). AMPA was detected more frequently in rain (86%), soil (82%), and large rivers (78%); and less frequently in groundwater (8%) and wetlands or vernal pools (37%).”

Key point: Glyphosate evaporates with water and rains down just about everywhere, which is one of the many reasons why it’s important to wash your fruits and vegetables, even if they’re organic. 

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Why I’m writing about this

• In general, I try not to share disheartening content and or problems that you and I can’t do much about. While I may seem to have broken this rule today, I still feel there are some important actions you can take to reduce your exposure to glyphosate. 

• 1. Buy organic food, which I feel to be one of the best ways of reducing the amount of glyphosate to which you are exposed. 

• 2. Tell people about this. I believe that, eventually, glyphosate will be banned, but we can increase the likelihood of this happening sooner rather than later by raising awareness. 

• Another reason why I wrote about it is because, by linking to the above articles, I’ve boosted their search rankings, and thereby increase the likelihood of their being found by people with the power to enact legislative change. If you’d like to learn more about how Google ranks web pages (i.e, determines the order in which they show up after you click the search button) check out the video below. 

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Excerpts From My Journal

If you send half an hour meditating prior to spending an hour on the computer, your hour will probably spent about twice as efficiently as if you hadn’t meditated beforehand. 

“What makes you say that?” is, in my opinion, one of the best questions in existence. It is the bane of unfounded assertions. 

You’re probably not right about a good number of the things you think you’re right about. This simple truth is comforting, discomforting, and often forgotten. 

Every breath provides an opportunity for realization 

If you are simply willing

To rest your awareness upon it

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Music Recommendation