Can Glyphosate Really Be Present in Human Breast Milk?

Catherine J. Frompovich, Guest
Waking Times

Realistically, something is being done at ‘grassroots’ level to determine IF glyphosate—a chemical in Roundup® that is being implicated in negative health effects—is present in mothers’ breast milk.

For example, one Pennsylvania citizens group, GMO Free Lancaster County, has been testing mothers’ breast milk with some startling results, which have not been subjected to the peer-review process that would give more credibility to those findings. Maybe, future tests can go that route.

According to their Press Release dated August 2015,

GMO Free Lancaster County, with sponsorship from Tree of Life Health Ministries, commissioned the first ever testing of the breast milk of Lancaster mothers for the presence of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s flagship herbicide, Roundup. [1]

Twelve Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, nursing mothers’ breast milk was assayed by Microbe Inotech Laboratories of St. Louis, Missouri, using the ELISA method. ELISA is the acronym for Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay. Even though the ELISA testing is done to determine antibodies for certain diseases, it can be done to test for chemicals. I found a few websites that gave ELISA glyphosate results. I found several results for baby formula testing and a 96-test wells ELISA plate results here. So, it is confirmed that ELISA is used to check for glyphosate.

Graphic source

The graphic above indicates that the hamburger bun wheat grain was desiccated with Roundup containing glyphosate BEFORE harvest, which leaves glyphosate residues in the grain. So are many other crops sprayed with Roundup, especially those classified as GMOs. Farmers, legally bound by Monsanto contracts, must use Roundup on GMO seeds/crops! The beef in the hamburger probably came from GMO corn- and soy-fed cows! French fries are made using Canola oil, a GMO crop that is sprayed with Roundup. So, toxic glyphosate has many ways of getting into the human body, including breast milk!

According to a Reuters news report dated April 20, 2015, “Regulators may recommend testing food for glyphosate residues” [2], Reuters reports that

Glyphosate is used on corn, soybeans, sugar beets and other crops genetically altered to withstand it. It is also used by farmers growing wheat and other crops. Its use has surged with the advancement of genetically engineered crops.

Which crops are genetically altered to withstand glyphosate? Roundup Ready corn, Roundup Ready soybeans, Roundup Ready alfalfa, Roundup Ready canola, and Roundup Ready cotton, whose seeds are pressed for edible cottonseed oil.

Furthermore, glyphosate is NOT breaking down as it had been advertised to break down.

In 1996, New York’s attorney general sued Monsanto over the company’s use of “false and misleading advertising” about RoundUp. That case ended with Monsanto agreeing to stop calling Roundup “biodegradable,” and to pull ads claiming that Roundup was “safer than table salt,” “practically nontoxic,” and “stayed where you put it.”

Two decades after the advent of “RoundUp Ready” crops and their dominance in the agricultural marketplace, the evidence of their falsehoods abound: multiple studies have found significant levels of glyphosate in streams, soil, air, rainwater, and groundwater: [3]

Glyphosate Residues In

GMOs may be hidden in common processed food ingredients such as: Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products. [4]

So, it’s very easy to see how mothers’ milk can be contaminated with glyphosate—just by eating food!

However, in the Lancaster County breast milk testing, one of the mothers, whose breast milk was tested, reported that she had sprayed glyphosate during pregnancy, and had additional exposure to it environmentally where she lived and worked. She is the mother of an infant with neuroblastoma [5], a malignant tumor usually in the adrenal glands.

The ironic part about glyphosate in the USA is that there are ridiculous limits set by the U.S. EPA for drinking water, i.e., 700 parts per billion. [7]

Moms Across America tests found

Glyphosate in U.S. Drinking Water

In this initial testing phase 21 samples of drinking water were tested for glyphosate from across the Unites States individually by Moms Across America supporters.

13 of the samples contained glyphosate levels of between 0.085 ug/l and 0.33 ug/l. This is well below the levels found in both urine and breast milk but is still cause for concern, as the European (EU) maximum allowed level for glyphosate in drinking water is 0.1 ug/l. [6]

The European Union is having second thoughts about glyphosate and Roundup, in particular.

Consider this:

On May 8, [2015] the German state ministers introduced a resolution calling for “the supply to and use by private persons to be banned for precautionary reasons.” The resolution also recommends prohibiting use of the herbicide near consumers. [8]

The French Environment and Energy Minister, earlier in 2015, suggested that “France must be offensive on stopping pesticides.” Two Swiss supermarket chains stopped selling biotech chemicals due to health concerns! [9] When will such enlightenment come to the USA?

Here’s a short video by Ed Brown about glyphosate that ought to leave readers thinking about what you eat, how you garden and/or grow food, and from where your drinking water comes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eAEEDluI_s0#t=12

Lastly, here’s a petition to food processors titled “Conceal or Reveal: Ask Kellogg’s, Pepsi-Co, Coca Cola, and General Mills to Support Mandatory Labeling of GMOs,” which readers probably will want to sign to enforce our right to know what we are eating regarding genetically modified ‘phoods’.

References:

[1] http://www.gmofreelancastercounty.org/breast_milk_testing_results
[2] http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/20/us-food-agriculture-glyphosate-idUSKBN0NB1N020150420
[3] http://gmo-awareness.com/resources/glyphosate/
[4] http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/gmos-and-your-family/
[5] http://www.gmofreelancastercounty.org/breast_milk_testing_results
[6] http://www.momsacrossamerica.com/glyphosate_testing_results
[7] http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/glyphosate.cfm
[8] http://www.naturalnews.com/049847_glyphosate_herbicide_Monsanto_European_Union.html
[9] http://naturalsociety.com/french-minister-asks-stores-to-stop-selling-round-up/

About the Author

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

Catherine’s latest book, published October 4, 2013, is Vaccination Voodoo, What YOU Don’t Know About Vaccines, available on Amazon.com.

Her 2012 book A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective & Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook.

Two of Catherine’s more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What’s Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008)

**This was featured at Activist Post and may be re-posted in full with attribution.**

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