In the last
two weeks a mess was created around an “article” published at the official “journal”
of the Chinese “Military Academy of Sciences” by its vice-president. The “paper”
“proved” that glyphosate was the cause of the sharp increase in the incidence
of different diseases among Chinese people. However, the “paper” was just a
communication, sort of personal report, by a retired military officer, containing
a couple of speculative considerations on the origin of the abovementioned
increase in disease rates. The image of the report is below and for those
fluent in Chinese here is the link for the full text: blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4bb17e9d0102edhg.html
As not many
occidentals can read Chinese, GenPeace advanced a trial translation using
Google and reviewing the product on the light of previous knowledge on the
subject.
It is
obvious that our good Lieutnan General was completely dominated by the GMO
opposition, repeating as a parrot every non-sense that circulates in the
internet and citing the trash literature that usually supports their claims. To
those interested in a detailed analysis of the Lieutnan´s text, here is the translation
from the Chinese original using Google translate, detailed commented.
Translation
Our country
is the home of soybeans until 1994; before this date, the country was a net exporter
of soybeans. Since 1995 China began to import soybeans; after a sharp rise in
imports, in 2010 imports exceeded 50 million tons , in 2012 China imported
58.38 million tons of soybean , soybean imports reached 63.38 million tons in
2013 , accounting for 80 percent of China 's soybean market .
Imports of
genetically modified soybeans were mainly U.S. multinational Monsanto developed
genetically modified Roundup Ready soybeans. Monsanto Roundup, developed in the
United States in the 70s of the last century, the introduction of the patented
product herbicides, and then use
the U.S. military in the Vietnam War as a defoliant ( Agent Orange )1 have a special relationship: the main ingredient is
glyphosate, which toxicity is increased by some polyethoxylated tallowamine
adjuvants, such as POEA. In 1997, a glyphosate-resistant enzyme gene from Agrobacterium
tumefaciens was isolated by Monsanto the United States, and the gene was
transferred into soybeans and other crops. In crop management, spraying
glyphosate-based herbicides can effectively eliminate weeds and non transgenic
common crops, but will not kill glyphosate-resistant transgenic crops expressing
the enzyme, thereby facilitating large-scale GM crop cultivation, saving labor
costs. But as the result of spraying glyphosate , not only due to the lack of aromatic amino acids2 , GM soybeans have serious nutritional deficiencies [ 1 ]3, and glyphosate residues can be found through
the roots , stems and leaves in the plant, which can´t be removed by washing, ending
up into the body after eating.
In April
2013 , an independent
research institute4 in Germany , using the"
Biological test technology" searched for glyphosate residues in
genetically modified soybeans in Argentina. After sampling and analysis , seven
out of 11 samples were found to contain of more than 20mg/kg glyphosate, with
one of the reaching 97.36 mg / kg. [ 2 ]
Glyphosate
is a toxic chemical and large doses of glyphosate are lethal; China and other
countries recognize cases of glyphosate suicide case. In Japan, some studies
show that Roundup lethal dose
for an adult male is 250 ml5, while a lower dose and micro- doses of glyphosate can lead to chronic
toxicity.
According to the research report by the U.S6 , France, Canada , Egypt, Brazil , Argentina,
India, Thailand, China and many other scientific bodies showed that traces of
glyphosate have mutagenic toxicity, tumor -induced toxicity , reproductive
toxicity, developmental toxicity , neurotoxicity , genetic toxicity and immune
toxicity. April 18, 2013 , Prof.
Stephanie and others7 from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology published a paper stating that glyphosate interfers with cytochrome
P450 enzymes, and leads to amino acid biosynthesis inhibition among gut
microbiome, in what was defines as The Road to Modern diseases; the meta
analysis collected 286 papers worldwide in the scientific literature , from a statistical point of
view , and biological mechanisms , elaborated glyphosate pollution and diabetes
, infertility , cancer, fetal abnormalities , autism, attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder , fatty liver , there is a causal relationship between
cardiovascular disease , depression , Alzheimer's disease , Parkinson's disease
, cerebral thrombosis , cerebral hemorrhage dozens of diseases. 8 [ 3 ]
In recent
years , the EPA drinking water standards have been restricted to glyphosate
content that glyphosate residue concentrations should not exceed 0.7mg / L, and explain the harm is
caused by kidney damage and reproductive difficulties9. [ 4 ]
The Ministry
of Health developed national standards G52763-2005 thereby " maximum
residue limits for pesticides in food " were provided: glyphosate residues
in fruits shall not exceed O.1mg / kg, corn glyphosate residues shall not
exceed 1mg / kg. But I do not know why
the above criteria for glyphosate
residue limits do not make provisions for soybeans.
2002
China's " genetically modified food and health management approach"
has been clear stating that GM foods nutritional value and food safety shall
not be less than the corresponding conventional food, and I do not know why the
July 1, 2007 amendment just abolished the clause on genetically modified food
nutritional value and safety requirements.
Because
China's national standards for allowable residues of glyphosate soybeans have
not been established so far have, and because the glyphosate content of imported
genetically modified soybeans was not tested or reported by Ministry of
Agriculture of China, it is difficult to accurately calculate China's soybean
imports of glyphosate residues. 2013 China's imports of genetically modified
soybeans from United States and other countries implied in a 6,338 tons of
glyphosate; assuming the country population as 1,3 bi. people, the annual per
capita imports of genetically modified soybean reaches about 50kg. Based on the
detection of glyphosate residues in genetically modified soybeans in Argentina
and assuming only a sample of the lowest level of glyphosate (20 mg/kg) for
calculations, it is estimated for 2013 a per capita intake of glyphosate from
ingestion of genetically modified soybeans of 1000 mg. It means a per person per day as high as 2.74mg10.
U.S. government to take on GM soybean production
subsidies to $ 59.1 per ton in 2004 subsidy standard calculations, in 2013 the
United States exported to China transgenic soybean 63.38 million tons , a total
subsidy of $ 3.8 billion giant . U.S. soybean farmers through their huge
subsidies , dumping of Chinese , a few years it destroyed the traditional
Chinese soybean industry .
( Reprinted by Note : This paragraph contains an error
, China in 2013 imports of " genetically modified soybean 63.38 million
tons ," not all imports from the United States , however , the
international trade of genetically modified soybean prices are directly
affected by the U.S. agricultural subsidies . ) 11
China's
imports of genetically modified soybeans are mainly used to extract edible
soybean oil ( the main brand is " Arowana ", etc.), not due to its
quality , but because of its low price. GM soybeans quickly monopolized the
Chinese soybean market, covering almost nationwide most of the
restaurant industry and food units. Glyphosate in soybean oil form transgenic
grains is uptake three meals a day in most of the country and continues to penetrate into the human
body. Consumers include children in kindergartens, schools, universities and
students, the PLA (People´s Liberation Army) officers and agency personnel and
other consumers in the school (except for special units ) .
The past 20
years , the health of our people deteriorated sharply , the incidence of some
diseases straight up shocking. In 1996 , China's birth defects was 0.87% , in
2000 , rising to 1.09% in 2010 , rising to 1.53% ; [ 5 ]
According
to the " Reference News" (June 2, 2013) , a survey reported by a site
in the United States that 40% of the elderly over the age of 60 showed depression compared, significantly more
than young people; [ 6 ] 12
November
22, 2011 "Xinmin Evening News " revealed that precocious puberty among
Chinese girls was 10 times the rate of the last decade; 2010 the Beijing
Municipal Government issued the first " White Paper on public health"
and revealed an increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes increased by 11.7
times ;
April 2,
2013 " Zhengzhou Daily" reported that the number of diagnosed
autistic children increased a hundred -fold in 20 years, February 20, 2013
" Sichuan News Net - Chengdu Daily " revealed : "In recent years , China
Children's Oncology the incidence is rising, the average per 10,000 children,
children with cancer will have a child in all tumors, leukemia, brain tumors ,
malignant lymphoma and neuroblastoma pathogenesis number in the top four . 13;
2012 China
Population Association released the " 2012 China White Paper survey sperm
quality ," the survey data show that China's infertility patients since
before reached more than 50 million , accounting for 15.6% of the population at
childbearing age . 10 years ago ( 2002 ) this figure was 8 %, 20 years ago (
1972 ) , 3 % and 40 years ago ( in the 1970s ) , no more than 1%.
According
to Xinhua reports , China 's incidence of Parkinson's disease in the past 20
years showed a growth of at least 20 times ; [ 7 ]
China's
current incidence of cardiovascular disease more than 13% [ 8 ] ; chronic
kidney disease population reached 10%. [ 9 ]
As low and micro-
doses of glyphosate have progressive , stealth and long-term characteristics, the
risks of genetically modified soybean oil , unlike other poisons, can´t get
immediate direct proof. In recent years, China National health condition
deteriorated sharply and despite the weather , pollution and other factors, the
dangers of genetically modified soybeans can´t be ruled out. Ensure the
absolute safety of food is an unswerving
policy of the country . On this issue of vital importance , we have no room for
trial and error . According to the March 3 "Yangcheng Evening News"
report, the U.S.
Environmental Medicine Academy officially announced : genetically modified
foods cause serious harm to human health14. Back in May 2009 , the hospital15 issued a research report saying :
"Some animal studies suggest that eating GM foods have serious damage to
health risks, including infertility, immune problems , accelerated aging ,
insulin regulation , and changes in major organs and stomach changes in the
intestinal system, " Xinhua March 15 , Paris : French Ministry of
Agriculture on March 15 announced the decision to ban the cultivation, use and
sale of the U.S. Monsanto developed GM maize MON810 in France.
Now it is
time to remove the artificial setting of genetically modified foods "
information barrier". My recommendation is that the relevant departments should
seriously carry out epidemiological surveys, face reality, control risk , and
implement prevention as a priority, to take effective preventive measures to
ensure the safety of people's lives and the health and safety of the bottom
line.
(The author
is a former vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences)
Expert
Profile
Mi Zhenyu, former vice president of Academy of
Military Sciences, doctoral tutor, the generals Street
Eighth National People's Congress, the Ninth CPPCC
National Committee,
The second, third and fourth degree Committee of the
State Council Convenor military discipline, Convenor of the military council
doctoral disciplines, Fifth National Postdoctoral Professional Personnel
Committee.
References:
[1] T. Bøhn
et al, Compositional differences in soybeans on the market:. Glyphosate
accumulates in Roundup Ready GM soybeans, Food Chemistry, online 18 December
2013
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814613019201
In
translation : http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4bb17e9d0102ebkd.html
[2]
TestBiotech, High levels of residues from spraying with glyphosate found in
soybeans in Argentina, 2013-10-22 http://www.testbiotech.de/en/node/926
[3] Anthony
Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, Glyphosate's Suppression of Cytochrome P450
Enzymes and Amino Acid Biosynthesis by the Gut Microbiome: Pathways to Modern
Diseases, Entropy 2013, 15 (4), 1416-1463
http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416/pdf
In
translation : http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6e9914110101ec4d.html
[4] EPA,
Technical Factsheet on: GLYPHOSATE
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/pdfs/factsheets/soc/tech/glyphosa.pdf
[ 5 ]
Information Times , one hundred births 5.6 flawed , March 7, 2013
http://news.ifeng.com/gundong/detail_2013_03/07/22826084_0.shtml
[ 6 ] Reference
News , Foreign media: Chinese elderly plagued by depression ,2013 -06-02
http://china.cankaoxiaoxi.com/2013/0602/218581.shtml
[ 7 ]
Xinhua , the incidence of Parkinson's disease for at least the past 20 years,
an increase of 20 times , 12 April 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/health/2007-04/12/content_5965118.htm
[ 8 ]
Health News , " China Cardiovascular Disease Report 2012 " published
every 10 seconds one person dies effort ,2013 -08-12
http://www.bj.xinhuanet.com/hbpd/health/yw/2013-08/12/c_116900727.htm
[ 9 ]
Guangzhou Daily , Guangdong incidence of chronic kidney disease in the country
,2013 -11-04
http://news.southcn.com/d/2013-11/04/content_83567059.htm
Appendix:
" Technology Digest News " April 25, 2014 Mi Zhenyu "face import
of genetically modified soybeans for 1.3 billion Chinese people 's health and
safety hazard" to scan items
******************
Comments
by GenPeace
1 The “Agent Orange” was a mixture of
2,4.D, 2,5-T and some other toxic residues, but no glyphosate at all. The very serious health problems
caused by the “agent” were due to the presence of a contaminant, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin
(TCDD), a very toxic component from the dioxin group.
2 The text is not related to the
context. It may be a mistranslation.
3The paper of Bohm and colleagues was
produced by a group of activists dedicated to prove that GMOs are dangerous and
that the associated technology also increases risks. The methodology is very
flawed and it is astonishing how such a bad paper could be accepted by a traditional scientific, peer reviewd journal. It is, by no means, the first trash that is
accepted by a good journal, the paradigmatic example being that of Séralini (http://genpeace.blogspot.com.br/2013/09/is-seralinis-paper-dead-horse-should-be.html )
4The “independent” NGO TestBiotech is
not a research institute and the text cited is not a paper. It lacks controls
and a clear methodology and is in sharp contrast to other real papers, like the
one published by Arreguí et al. (2003): the authors found no soybean samples
with residues above the internationally agreed limit. Soil and water samples
were also either negative or at very low level. Samples were taken from crop
areas during consecutive crop years (http://www.ask-force.org/web/HerbizideTol/Arregui-Monitoring-Glyphosate-Residues-in-Soybean-2004.pdf )
5If the reader swallows 250ml of pure
alcohol, acetic acid, fuel, mustard or hot chili, he or she will almost
certainly die or face serious health consequences. Lower doses, however, may
have no direct impact on his/her health...
6No references...
7The paper mentioned here has a few
claims that may be true, but the whole of it is very bad. See a full comment on
http://skeptoid.com/blog/2013/05/04/roundup-and-gut-bacteria/.What GenPeace really appreciates is
the incisive approach Skeptoid has to unravel the truth: just have a look in
the graph below, a Skeptoid contribution to the problem of “modern diseases”:
Useless
to say, you can found a similar correlation to whatever food, drug or device
whose adoption has seen a steady increase in the last 12 years...
8The translation is difficult here,
but the main idea is clear: glyphosate leads to the increased incidence of all
diseases listed in the paragraph.
9The numbers are false: a quick
inspection of the EPA texts leads to the following information: Drinking water
levels which are considered "safe" for short-term exposures: For a
10-kg (22 lb.) child consuming 1 liter of water per day, upto a ten-day
exposure to 20 mg/L or up to a 7-year exposure to 1 mg/L. Moreover, the author
mixes up acute and chronic effects: the latter could be renal and reproductive
problems, but these remain as potential effects, not at all demonstrated
or taken for granted.
10Our esteemed Lieutnan General Mi
Zhen wrongly assumes in his calculations that all soybeans will be fed as grains to humans. Not at
all! The vast majority of imported grains will be fed to pigs, chickens and
other animals. The small fraction used for human consumption will be mostly transformed
to oil, that has no glyphosate residues or only very small amounts of it. The
final results will lower per capita intake to more than an order of magnitude!!
11The two paragraphs are irrelevant
for the discussion on glyphosate and GM soybean impacts on health.
13The translation is confusing, but
the message is clear: cancer cases of very different types and ehiologies are
rapidly increasing in numbers among Chinese children.
14This Academy is indeed an assemblage
of activists and has absolutely no relation to the true Academy of Medicine nor
with any other serious academic or class agency in USA. The name is misleading,
but anyone can easily check its origin and ideology: : just
see what is in Wikipedia: Quackwatch lists the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM)
as a questionable organization, and its certifying board, the American Board of
Environmental Medicine as a dubious certifying board.[4] They
are not recognized by the American
Board of Medical Specialties.
15It is unclear what “hospital” could
mean in the original text. As there are no references cited in this paragraph,
it is not possible to track down the origin of this queer info.
