glyphosate
In May 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on animal studies showing that glyphosate caused tumor growth and higher incidents of cancer. The WHO investigation also found that glyphosate is probably genotoxic (meaning it causes mutations in DNA) and increases oxidative stress, which triggers inflammation and speeds up aging. Glyphosate also mimics estrogen, which might explain why it causes human breast cancer cells to grow in vitro.5 Roundup itself is directly toxic to mitochondria6 and even more toxic to human placental cells than glyphosate7 alone. Even more worrisome, the gly- in glyphosate stands for glycine, an amino acid prevalent in collagen, the protein in your skin’s connective tissue. Glyphosate is actually a glycine molecule attached to a methylphosphonyl group (which happens to be a precursor to chemical weapons). This means that when you consume glyphosate it can be incorporated into your collagen matrix just like glycine. In 2017, the Boston University School of Public Health released research showing that glyphosate substituting for glycine disrupts multiple proteins necessary for kidney health and may contribute to kidney disease.8
5.Siriporn Thongprakaisang et al., “Glyphosate Induces Human Breast Cancer Cells Growth via Estrogen Receptors,” Food and Chemical Toxicology 59 (September 2013): 129–36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2013.05.057.
6.Francisco Peixoto, “Comparative Effects of the Roundup and Glyphosate on Mitochondrial Oxidative Phosphorylation,” Chemosphere 61, no. 8 (December 2005): 1115–22, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.03.044.
7.Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, “Glyphosate, Pathways to Modern Diseases IV: Cancer and Related Pathologies,” Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry 15 (2015): 121–59, https://doi.org/10.4024/11SA15R.jbpc.15.03.
8.Stephanie Seneff and Laura F. Orlando, “Glyphosate Substitution for Glycine During Protein Synthesis as a Causal Factor in Mesoamerican Nephropathy,” Journal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology 8, no. 1 (2018): 541, https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-0525.1000541.