The High Cost of Pesticides: Human and Animal Diseases

Abstract

A significant degradation in the health of wild animals in Montana has been recorded over the past two decades. We surmise that the health issues are related to pesticide exposure. We present some of the evidence of the deterioration of the health in wildlife, which we used to inspire investigations on human health in the US population. While the animals' exposure is through food, water and air, we believe that human exposure is predominantly through food, as the majority of the population does not reside near agricultural fields and forests. We have obtained US government data on pesticide usage and on human disease patterns over time from the 1998-2010 hospital discharge data. Since glyphosate is by far the most widely used herbicide, we believe it to be a major source of contamination for humans. Correlations between glyphosate usage and specific health issues, along with the known toxicology profile of glyphosate obtained from the literature, reflect a plausible causal relationship. Because much of the wildlife data is from deer fawns, most of the human data presented here involve newborn infants, but we also present some data for children 0-15 years old and for the full population (except newborn). We found many diseases and conditions whose hospital discharge rates match remarkably well with the rate of glyphosate usage on corn, soy, and wheat crops. These include head and face anomalies (R=0.95), newborn eye disorders, newborn blood disorders (R=0.92), newborn skin disorders (R=0.96), lymph disorders in children 0-15 (R=0.86) and in the general population except newborn (R=0.89), congenital heart conditions in newborns (R= 0.98), enlarged right ventricle in all age groups except newborn (R=0.96), newborn lung problems (R=0.95), pulmonary bleeding and edema for all age groups except newborn (R=0.97), liver cancer for all age groups except newborn (R=0.93), newborn metabolic disorders (R=0.95) and newborn genitourinary disorders (R=0.96).

Glyphosate pathways to modern diseases V: Amino acid analogue of glycine in diverse proteins

“…These include obesity, diabetes, end stage renal disease, renal failure, autism, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, intestinal infection, inflammatory bowel disease, stroke, leukemia, thyroid cancer, liver cancer, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer and kidney cancer. Another study, looking at both human and animal data, revealed a large number of disorders of the newborn that are increasing in step with glyphosate usage [31]. These include congenital heart disease, skin disorders, genitourinary disorders, blood disorders, metabolic disorders and lung conditions.…”

Pesticides and conservation of large ungulates: Health risk to European bison from plant protection products as a result of crop depredation

“…At the same time, the results of work on other wild ungulates indicates significant evidence of the adverse effect of pesticides [21]. This includes the under development of the upper facial bones brachygnathia superior found to affect, inter alia, white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, mule deer Odocoileus hemionus, elk Cervus canadensis, pronghorn antelope Antilocapra americana and bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis [21,22]. These populations were found to suffer from congenital urogenital malformations [23,24] such as a decrease in penis sheath length, scrotum size, and the change in testes position.…”

“…The issue of the impact of pesticides on European bison has not been studied so far. At the same time, the results of work on other wild ungulates indicates significant evidence of the adverse effect of pesticides [21]. This includes the under development of the upper facial bones brachygnathia superior found to affect, inter alia, white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, mule deer Odocoileus hemionus, elk Cervus canadensis, pronghorn antelope Antilocapra americana and bighorn sheep Ovis canadensis [21,22].…”

“…White-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus were found to suffer from eye deformities, diseases and malformations of the heart and lung, and congenital thymus malformations leading to impairment of the immune system. An increasing number of mammals and birds have been observed with liver tumours, among others wolf Canis lupus and rock pigeon Columba livia [21].…”

Glyphosate pathways to modern diseases VI: Prions, amyloidoses and autoimmune neurological diseases

“…In a paper published in 2014, Swanson et al showed a remarkable correlation between the rising rate of glyphosate usage on corn (maize) and soy crops in the USA and an alarming rise in a number of different chronic diseases [24]. Additional strong correlations for other conditions and diseases are provided in two follow-on papers [25,26]. While correlation does not necessarily mean causation, causation becomes much more likely if a plausible mechanism can be found.…”