“Extreme levels” of Roundup in GM soybeans

http://www.biosafety-info.net/article.php?aid=1064

Publication date: April 22, 2014  

THIRD WORLD NETWORK BIOSAFETY INFORMATION SERVICE   

Levels of Roundup so high that even Monsanto calls them “extreme” now appear to be the norm for GM soybeans, recent research shows. Residues of glyphosate (and its breakdown product AMPA) were found in high concentrations in GM soybeans resistant to the herbicide Roundup, but not in conventional or organic soybeans. (See BIS 21 March 2014, High Residues of Glyphosate Accumulate in Roundup Ready Soybeans). 

All of the individual samples of GM soybean were found to contain residues of both glyphosate and AMPA, on average 9.0 mg/kg. Monsanto had previously claimed that residue levels of up to 5.6 mg/kg in GM soybeans represent “extreme levels, and far higher than those typically found”. Seven out of the 10 GM soybean samples tested surpassed this “extreme level” (of glyphosate + AMPA), indicating a trend towards higher residue levels. 

An article by the authors is reproduced below. They point to a worrisome outlook for health and the environment, found in the combination of (i) the vast increase in use of glyphosate-based herbicides, in particular due to glyphosate-resistant GM plants, and (ii) new findings of higher toxicity of both glyphosate as an active and increased toxicity due to contributions from chemical adjuvants in commercial formulations. 

The full research paper (Bøhn et al. 2014) is available (open access) at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814613019201