GM herbicide can hamper the development and activity of the brain

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GM herbicide " can hamper the development and activity of the

brain "

 

 

" GM WATCH " <info

 

 

Tue, 7 Dec 2004 09:26:45 GMT

 

 

GM herbicide " can hamper the development and activity of the brain "

http://www.gmwatch.org

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The glufosinate herbicide, used in large quantities on Bayer's GM

herbicide-resistant crops, has been found to have adverse effects on the

brain.

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20041207f1.htm

The Japan Times, 7 December 2004

By YUMI WIJERS-HASEGAWA, Staff writer

 

Yoichiro Kuroda, the principal investigator in a project titled the

Effects of Endocrine Disrupters on the Developing Brain, under the

government's CREST (Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology)

program, believes polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and glufosinate can

hamper the

development and activity of the brain.

 

PCBs are " mock hormones " -- endocrine disrupters that cause neural

development defects by disrupting gene functions and neural-network

formation in kids -- resulting in lower IQ scores and hyperactive

tendencies,

he said.

 

Glufosinate, widely used in the U.S. as a super herbicide for

herbicide-resistant genetically modified crops, is like a " mock

neurotransmitter " that has an aggressive effect on brains, he said.

 

If an embryo or a baby is exposed to the chemical, it can affect

behavior, as it disturbs gene functions that regulate the developing

brain,

he said.

 

A decade ago, the late Toshiko Fujii, a one-time professor of medicine

at Teikyo University, conducted research in which she found that the

main

component of this GMO-compatible herbicide had adverse effects on the

brains of baby rats.

 

" Male rats often fight one another, but female rats are peaceful, "

Kuroda said in explaining Fujii's research.

 

" But female rats born from mothers that were given high doses of

glufosinate became aggressive and started to bite each other -- in

some cases

until one died. That report sent a chill through me. "

 

He said there is a considerable possibility that fetuses and babies are

also affected by the substance, and since it is widely assumed that

males are more aggressive to begin with, it is possible they are more

affected than females.

 

" The chemical industry has not been considering this kind of risk on

the developing human brain,

which is a fragile, fine chemical machine, " he said.

 

 

 

 

http://www.gmwatch.org

 

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