Roundup: “The ultimate killing machine”
Seralini’s studies have found that Roundup causes an increase in:
- Mortality
- Organ damage
- Death of testicular cells
Roundup is marketed to the public as a safe herbicide, often with claims that it’s biodegradable or can be used safely around pets and children. Ironically it’s also marketed to farmers as “the ultimate killing machine”.
The latter description is closer to the truth.
Roundup and its main chemical ingredient glyphosate have been linked in studies to serious health effects. These include:
- Hormonal effects (known as endocrine disruption or ‘gender-bender’ effects)
- Reproductive problems, e.g. miscarriage
- Birth defects
- Cancer
- Neurological disorders, e.g. Parkinson’s disease.
Some of these effects have been found even at very low doses that people are exposed to, for example, as residues in food or in drinking water.
Many studies, including some by Prof Gilles-Eric Séralini and his team, show that Roundup is more toxic than glyphosate alone. This is because the added ingredients (adjuvants) in Roundup make cells more permeable to glyphosate and increase its toxic effect.
For more information, see:
- Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PANAP) – Glyphosate monograph
- Greenpeace – Herbicide tolerance and GM crops
- Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?
Roundup research by Séralini’s team
Prof Séralini and his team are leaders in research on Roundup and glyphosate. Their published papers are available below:
