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Voice of the Environment's mission is to educate the public regarding
the transfer of public trust assets into private, mostly corporate, hands. |
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Ukiah office:
1330 Boonville Rd
Ukiah, CA 95482
707-467-0329
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Marin office:
270 Beach Rd
Belvedere, CA 94920
415-435-2007
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For more than a decade, Voice of the Environment has stood up for the people and our communities against the avarice of corporations and the misguided policies of the corporate-dominated state. |
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 Why did the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allow mercury exposures from childhood vaccines to more than double between 1988 and 1992 without bothering to calculate cumulative totals and their potential risks?
Why was there a corresponding spike in reported cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)? Why did autism grow from a relatively rare incidence of 1 in every 10,000 births in the 1980s to 1 in 500 in the late 1990s? Why did it continue to increase to 1 in 250 in 2000 and then 1 in 150 today? Why are rates of ADD, ADHC, speech delay, and other childhood disorders also rising, and why does 1 in every 5 American children have a developmental disorder or behavioral problem?
Autism has traditionally been a disease of industrialized nations, at least until recent years. But not all Western countries have autism epidemics. Autism spectrum disorder is much more prevalent in the US than in countries that removed thimerosal from vaccines.
Does mercury in vaccines cause autism in children? A definitive answer remains elusive. Other possible environmental triggers include: mercury in fish and amalgam fillings, mercury and other emissions from power plants, pesticides, PCBs, flame retardants, jet fuel, live viruses in vaccines, and more. It is plausible that any combination of the above, with or without thimerosal exposure added into the mix, might cause harm to some fetuses and infant children,
Voice of the Environment is determined to play a helpful role in an ongoing investigation to get to the bottom of the tragedy of autism. Working with the California State legislature's Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism, the M.I.N.D. Institute (UC Davis Medical Center), and myriad organizations and individuals around the country, we hope to see an end to the autism epidemic and a sharp curtailment of ASD.
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Find doctors in your area with special expertise in autism research and treatment
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April 24, 2009
We Still Don't Know If Vaccines Are Safe
Recently, I was amazed to hear a commentary by CNN's Campbell Brown on the controversial vaccine issue.
... more
April 6, 2009
Pfizer to Pay £50m After Deaths of Nigerian Children in Drug Trial Experiment
A divorce case was all that passed for excitement at Richard P. Altschuler's "kinda small" lawyer's office in West Haven, Connecticut, when the phone rang nine years ago. On the other end of the line, a world away in the heat of Nigeria, was Etigwe Uwo, a young lawyer with "an incredible story about Pfizer".
... more
May 6, 2008
Poison Ice: Melting Sea Ice Releasing Coal Plant Toxins
As the sea ice melts, a toxic stew of mercury and synthetic chemicals is seeping into the Arctic food web, harming the area's people. We may be next.
... more
April 25, 2008
Autism Risk Linked To Distance From Power Plants, Other Mercury-releasing Sources
Is the risk of autism greater for children who live closer to the pollution source?
... more
April 16, 2008
Canada First to Label ‘Bisphenol A’ As Officially Dangerous
ealth Canada is calling bisphenol A a dangerous substance, making it the first regulatory body in the world to reach such a determination and taking the initial step toward measures to control exposures to it.
... more
April 13, 2008
The autism alarm
What if you lived in a country where one child out of every 150 was kidnapped? There would be national outrage on all fronts, and we would see unprecedented action.
... more
March 27, 2008
The Next Big Autism Bomb: Are 1 in 50 Kids Potentially At Risk?
On Tuesday, March 11, a conference call was held between vaccine safety officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, several leading experts in vaccine safety research, and executives from America's Health Insurance Plans, (the HMO trade association) to discuss childhood mitochondrial dysfunction and its potential link to autism and vaccines.
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March 20, 2008
Give us answers on vaccines
By refusing to address what really happened to Hannah — by commanding parents to settle down and adhere to the nation's rigid immunization regime — officials will only drive people away from vaccines in anxiety-ridden droves.
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February 15, 2008
A Silent Pandemic: Industrial Chemicals Are Impairing the Brain Development of Children Worldwide
Fetal and early childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment can damage the developing brain and can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)—autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), and mental retardation.
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October 29, 2007
Autism screenings urged for all toddlers
The country's leading pediatricians group is making its strongest push yet to have all children screened for autism twice by age 2, warning of symptoms such as babies who don't babble at 9 months and 1-year-olds who don't point to toys.
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October 12, 2007
Waters and Kraus Lawsuit re Mercury Poisoning from Vaccine
The Dallas-based law firm of Waters & Kraus announced today that it has received documents as a result of the discovery process in the case of Counter v. Eli Lilly & Company, et al, currently pending in Brazoria County, Texas that come from the archives of Eli Lilly & Company.
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October 5, 2007
Mercury in vaccines
The recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study on the relationship between mercury exposure and developmental delays, reported in The Chronicle ("Mercury in vaccines seems safe for kids," Sept. 27) will not settle the controversy for several reasons.
... more
September 27, 2007
Mercury in vaccines seems safe for kids
A study of 1,047 children who received mercury-containing vaccines as infants has concluded the mercury does not cause learning difficulties or developmental delays.
... more
August 13, 2007
Our Assumptions About What Causes Chronic Diseases Could Be Wrong
Martha Herbert, a pediatric neurologist at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, studies brain images of children with autism.
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July 30, 2007
Pesticide link to autism suspected
Women who live near California farm fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides may be more likely to give birth to children with autism, according to a study by state health officials to be published today.
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July 23, 2007
Bush Will Veto Mercury Ban Bill
President Bush is to veto a bill that would ban mercury in flu vaccines for children despite its known links to autism and other neurological disorders and despite the fact that he pledged in 2004 to support such a move when campaigning for re-election.
... more
July 19, 2007
The dangers of lead
When it comes to lead, there has been ample documentation of its ill effects on children: learning disabilities, impaired hearing, kidney damage. What's news is that it may have tremendous ill effects on public safety as well.
... more
July 13, 2007
The Unmedicated Mind
From lobotomies with ice picks to early antidepressants that caused brain hemorrhaging, Americans have a complicated and ever-changing approach to treating mental illness.
... more
July 2, 2007
The Persecution of Andrew Wakefield, M.D.
In a few weeks, Andrew Wakefield, M.D., will be defending himself against charges of professional misconduct lodged against him by British physicians running the General Medical Council of England.
... more
June 13, 2007
Letter to NBC News President re Autism Omnibus Proceedings
The undersigned organizations are writing to you regarding the concerns among families of vaccine-injured children across the country over NBC’s recent coverage of the Autism Omnibus proceedings.
... more
Article Archive
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June 23rd, 2009
Weed-Whacking Herbicide Proves Deadly to Human Cells
Crystal Gammon/Environmental Health News
Used in yards, farms and parks throughout the world, Roundup has long been a top-selling weed killer. But now researchers have found that one of Roundup’s inert ingredients can kill human cells, particularly embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.
The new findings intensify a debate about so-called “inerts” — the solvents, preservatives, surfactants and other substances that manufacturers add to pesticides. Nearly 4,000 inert ingredients are approved for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States. About 100 million pounds are applied to U.S. farms and lawns every year, according to the EPA.
Until now, most health studies have focused on the safety of glyphosate, rather than the mixture of ingredients found in Roundup. But in the new study, scientists found that Roundup’s inert ingredients amplified the toxic effect on human cells—even at concentrations much more diluted than those used on farms and lawns.
One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call “astonishing.”
“This clearly confirms that the [inert ingredients] in Roundup formulations are not inert,” wrote the study authors from France’s University of Caen. “Moreover, the proprietary mixtures available on the market could cause cell damage and even death [at the] residual levels” found on Roundup-treated crops, such as soybeans, alfalfa and corn, or lawns and gardens.
The research team suspects that Roundup might cause pregnancy problems by interfering with hormone production, possibly leading to abnormal fetal development, low birth weights or miscarriages.
Monsanto, Roundup’s manufacturer, contends that the methods used in the study don’t reflect realistic conditions and that their product, which has been sold since the 1970s, is safe when used as directed. Hundreds of studies over the past 35 years have addressed the safety of glyphosate.
“Roundup has one of the most extensive human health safety and environmental data packages of any pesticide that's out there,” said Monsanto spokesman John Combest. “It's used in public parks, it's used to protect schools. There's been a great deal of study on Roundup, and we're very proud of its performance.”
The EPA considers glyphosate to have low toxicity when used at the recommended doses.
“Risk estimates for glyphosate were well below the level of concern,” said EPA spokesman Dale Kemery. The EPA classifies glyphosate as a Group E chemical, which means there is strong evidence that it does not cause cancer in humans.
In addition, the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture both recognize POEA as an inert ingredient. Derived from animal fat, POEA is allowed in products certified organic by the USDA. The EPA has concluded that it is not dangerous to public health or the environment.
The French team, led by Gilles-Eric Seralini, a University of Caen molecular biologist, said its results highlight the need for health agencies to reconsider the safety of Roundup.
“The authorizations for using these Roundup herbicides must now clearly be revised since their toxic effects depend on, and are multiplied by, other compounds used in the mixtures,” Seralini’s team wrote.
Controversy about the safety of the weed killer recently erupted in Argentina, one of the world’s largest exporters of soy.
Last month, an environmental group petitioned Argentina’s Supreme Court, seeking a temporary ban on glyphosate use after an Argentine scientist and local activists reported a high incidence of birth defects and cancers in people living near crop-spraying areas. Scientists there also linked genetic malformations in amphibians to glysophate. In addition, last year in Sweden, a scientific team found that exposure is a risk factor for people developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Inert ingredients are often less scrutinized than active pest-killing ingredients. Since specific herbicide formulations are protected as trade secrets, manufacturers aren’t required to publicly disclose them. Although Monsanto is the largest manufacturer of glyphosate-based herbicides, several other manufacturers sell similar herbicides with different inert ingredients.
The term “inert ingredient” is often misleading, according to Caroline Cox, research director of the Center for Environmental Health, an Oakland-based environmental organization. Federal law classifies all pesticide ingredients that don’t harm pests as “inert,” she said. Inert compounds, therefore, aren’t necessarily biologically or toxicologically harmless – they simply don’t kill insects or weeds.
Kemery said the EPA takes into account the inert ingredients and how the product is used, whenever a pesticide is approved for use. The aim, he said, is to ensure that “if the product is used according to labeled directions, both people’s health and the environment will not be harmed.” One label requirement for Roundup is that it should not be used in or near freshwater to protect amphibians and other wildlife.
But some inert ingredients have been found to potentially affect human health. Many amplify the effects of active ingredients by helping them penetrate clothing, protective equipment and cell membranes, or by increasing their toxicity. For example, a Croatian team recently found that an herbicide formulation containing atrazine caused DNA damage, which can lead to cancer, while atrazine alone did not.
POEA was recognized as a common inert ingredient in herbicides in the 1980s, when researchers linked it to a group of poisonings in Japan. Doctors there examined patients who drank Roundup, either intentionally or accidentally, and determined that their sicknesses and deaths were due to POEA, not glyphosate.
POEA is a surfactant, or detergent, derived from animal fat. It is added to Roundup and other herbicides to help them penetrate plants' surfaces, making the weed killer more effective.
"POEA helps glyphosate interact with the surfaces of plant cells," explained Negin Martin, a scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, who was not involved in the study. POEA lowers water's surface tension--the property that makes water form droplets on most surfaces--which helps glyphosate disperse and penetrate the waxy surface of a plant.
In the French study, researchers tested four different Roundup formulations, all containing POEA and glyphosate at concentrations below the recommended lawn and agricultural dose. They also tested POEA and glyphosate separately to determine which caused more damage to embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells.
Glyphosate, POEA and all four Roundup formulations damaged all three cell types. Umbilical cord cells were especially sensitive to POEA. Glyphosate became more harmful when combined with POEA, and POEA alone was more deadly to cells than glyphosate. The research appears in the January issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
By using embryonic and placental cell lines, which multiply and respond to chemicals rapidly, and fresh umbilical cord cells, Seralini’s team was able to determine how the chemicals combine to damage cells.
The two ingredients work together to “limit breathing of the cells, stress them and drive them towards a suicide,” Seralini said.
The research was funded in part by France’s Committee for Research and Independent Information on Genetic Engineering, a scientific committee that investigates risks associated with genetically modified organisms. One of Roundup’s primary uses is on crops that are genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate.
Monsanto scientists argue that cells in Seralini’s study were exposed to unnaturally high levels of the chemicals. “It's very unlike anything you'd see in real-world exposure. People's cells are not bathed in these things,” said Donna Farmer, another toxicologist at Monsanto.
Seralini’s team, however, did study multiple concentrations of Roundup. These ranged from the typical agricultural or lawn dose down to concentrations 100,000 times more dilute than the products sold on shelves. The researchers saw cell damage at all concentrations.
Monsanto scientists also question the French team’s use of laboratory cell lines.
“These are just not very good models of a whole organism, like a human being,” said Dan Goldstein, a toxicologist with Monsanto.
Goldstein said humans have protective mechanisms that resist substances in the environment, such as skin and the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, which constantly renew themselves. “Those phenomena just don't happen with isolated cells in a Petri dish.”
But Cox, who studies pesticides and their inert ingredients at the Oakland environmental group, says lab experiments like these are important in determining whether a chemical is safe.
“We would never consider it ethical to test these products on people, so we're obliged to look at their effects on other species and in other systems,” she said. “There's really no way around that.”
Seralini said the cells used in the study are widely accepted in toxicology as good models for studying the toxicity of chemicals.
“The fact is that 90 percent of labs studying mechanisms of toxicity or physiology use cell lines,” he said.
Most research has examined glyphosate alone, rather than combined with Roundup’s inert ingredients. Researchers who have studied Roundup formulations have drawn conclusions similar to the Seralini group’s. For example, in 2005, University of Pittsburg ecologists added Roundup at the manufacturer’s recommended dose to ponds filled with frog and toad tadpoles. When they returned two weeks later, they found that 50 to 100 percent of the populations of several species of tadpoles had been killed.
A group of over 250 environmental, health and labor organizations has petitioned the EPA to change requirements for identifying pesticides’ inert ingredients. The agency’s decision is due this fall.
“It would be a big step for the agency to take,” said Cox. “But it’s one they definitely should.”
The groups claim that the laws allowing manufacturers to keep inert ingredients secret from competitors are essentially unnecessary. Companies can determine a competitor’s inert ingredients through routine lab analyses, said Cox.
“The proprietary protection laws really only keep information from the public,” she said.
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Voice of the Environment is a 501 (c-3) not-for-profit Montana-based corporation formed in 1991.
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