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EU’s Re-approval of Glyphosate: The Role of Science and the Competence of Member States
Published in Stefania Negri, Environmental Health in International and EU Law, 2019
Moreover, a clearer understanding of the role of MSs in the decision-making for active substances could push them to take full responsibility in granting national authorisations for the marketing and use of pesticides. In fact, MSs only have the competence to authorise or not the final products; in particular, according to article 1, paragraph 4, of the Regulation, MSs are asked to rely on the precautionary principle in case of scientific uncertainty as to the risks with regard to human or animal health and the environment posed by PPPs to be authorised in their territory. Thus, following the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2017/2324 that has renewed the authorisation of glyphosate, MSs has been asked to keep monitoring if the pesticides containing such active substance are safe or not. In accordance with the latter Regulation, some MSs have adopted stricter rules for the use of glyphosate-based herbicides, but none of them have totally banned the marketing and the use of all glyphosate-containing products58. In France, for example, the sale and use of Roundup 360 (an herbicide containing glyphosate) has been banned in January 2019 as a consequence of a court ruling stating that French regulators had committed an error of assessment in the light of precautionary principle when they had authorised the marketing and use of this herbicide.59
Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods
Published in Robert E.C. Wildman, Richard S. Bruno, Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, 2019
There are a couple of biosynthetic pathways that form phenolic compounds. The predominant pathways are the shikimic acid pathway and the malonic acid pathway. The shikimic pathway is more significant in higher plants, although the malonic acid pathway is also present.17 Actually, the malonic pathway is the predominant source of secondary metabolites in lower plants, fungi, and bacteria. The shikimic pathway is so named because an intermediate of the pathway is shikimic acid. Inhibition of this pathway is the purpose of a commercially available herbicide (Roundup).
The Role of Light and Electromagnetic Fields in Maintaining Vascular Health
Published in Aruna Bakhru, Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the pervasive herbicide, Roundup®. Much recent research has shown that glyphosate is far more toxic to humans than we have been led to believe. The arguments for its benign effects on humans is based on the fact that a key mechanism of its toxicity to plants involves a biological pathway that human cells do not possess—the shikimate pathway. However, our gut microbes do have this pathway and they utilize it to supply us with essential amino acids that human cells are unable to synthesize for themselves. These are the aromatic amino acids, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylalanine, and their many biologically important derivatives can be expected to be deficient as well in the presence of chronic glyphosate poisoning. A tryptophan deficiency will impair aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling, and this may explain the observed suppression of CYP enzyme expression by glyphosate in rat liver [40].
Toxicity of the herbicides used on herbicide-tolerant crops, and societal consequences of their use in France
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
The continuous overuse of a single herbicide multiple times in a growing season is leading to a ‘naturally’ acquired resistance to this herbicide. As for the ALS gene, point mutations making the enzyme, and consequently the plant, resistant to ALS-inhibiting herbicides are known and detailed not only in many weeds but also in crops (Kolkman et al.2004; Shimizu et al. 2005; Powles and Yu 2010). In 2014, 404 unique cases of herbicide resistant weeds were known. ALS inhibitor-resistant weeds accounted for about a third of all cases (Heap 2014). Ian Heap has established the most extensive database in the world displaying the herbicide-resistant weeds to ALS-inhibiting herbicides that can be consulted in weedscience.org. Ironically, these herbicides are used as an alternative to glyphosate in crops where weeds have become resistant to Roundup. Sunflowers made resistant to these herbicides were created by chemical mutagenesis and first patented by Du Pont De Nemours (Gabard and Huby 2001). Sunflower, rapeseed, soy, wheat, rice, and maize resistant to these herbicides are now marketed and planted (Tan et al.2005).
Pilot study evaluating inhalation and dermal glyphosate exposure resulting from simulated heavy residential consumer application of Roundup®
Published in Inhalation Toxicology, 2020
Jennifer S. Pierce, Benjamin Roberts, Daniel G. Kougias, Chris E. Comerford, Alexander S. Riordan, Kara A. Keeton, Heidi A. Reamer, Neva F. B. Jacobs, Jason T. Lotter
To mix the product, per the manufacturer’s specifications, each applicator added ten fluid ounces (295.7 mL) of Roundup® concentrate containing 50.2% glyphosate to their backpack sprayer followed by four gallons (15.1 L) of water, which created a 0.96% glyphosate solution. The Roundup® product used in this evaluation was selected because (1) it required mixing (and therefore there was a potential fordermal exposure from the concentrated product), and (2) after mixing, the resulting solution contained a comparable concentration of glyphosate found in ready-to-use Roundup® products available for noncommercial residential use (i.e. 1–2% glyphosate). Each applicator sprayed the 677-foot perimeter of a gravel and asphalt yard at an approximate pace of one foot per second (to maintain adequate distance between applicators), covering a total distance of more than 5000 ft (1524 m) over the sampling duration. This is consistent with the spraying around the perimeter of one square acre of land six times consecutively, and thus, clearly exceeds typical residential consumer application.
The impact and toxicity of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on health and immunity
Published in Journal of Immunotoxicology, 2020
Cindy Peillex, Martin Pelletier
Glyphosate (N-phosphomethyl[glycine]), is an organophosphorus compound with herbicide properties discovered in 1970. It is a competitive inhibitor of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, an enzyme involved in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in plants and microorganisms (Figure 1(A)) (Steinrücken and Amrhein 1984). In 1974, Monsanto started its commercialization as a broad-spectrum herbicide. This first glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH), RoundUp®, and the others that followed such as Glyphogan®, Touchdown®, or Glifloglex®, are mixtures of glyphosate and various adjuvants used to boost its penetration in plants and enhance its activity (Williams et al. 2000). Most of them are surfactants, such as polyethoxylated tallow amine (POEA). First used as a desiccant and in the pretreatment of crops, RoundUp® utilization spreads dramatically since 1995 with the development of RoundUp®-resistant plants (Benbrook 2016). Glyphosate is now the most used herbicide globally, and its usage keeps increasing with the emergence of weed resistance, from 16 million kg spread in the world in 1994 to 79 million kg spread in 2014, including 15% in the United States alone (Benbrook 2016).