103 research outputs found
Glyphosate: too much of a good thing?
Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2016.00028 Although previously accepted as the less toxic alternative, with low impact on animals,
farmers as well as consumers who are exposed to residues in food, glyphosate chemicals
are now increasingly controversial as new evidence from research is emerging. We
argue that specific aspects of the history, chemistry and safety of glyphosate and
glyphosate-based herbicides should be thoroughly considered in present and future
re-evaluations of these dominant agrochemicals:
âą Glyphosate is not a single chemical, it is a family of compounds with different chemical,
physical, and toxicological properties.
âą Glyphosate is increasingly recognized as having more profound toxicological effects
than assumed from previous assessments.
âą Global use of glyphosate is continuously increasing and residues are detected in food,
feed, and drinking water. Thus, consumers are increasingly exposed to higher levels
of glyphosate residues, and from an increasing number of sources.
âą Glyphosate regulation is predominantly still based on primary safety-assessment
testing in various indicator organisms. However, archive studies indicate fraud and
misbehavior committed by the commercial laboratories providing such research.
We see emerging evidences from studies in test-animals, ecosystems indicators and
studies in human health, which justify stricter regulatory measures. This implies revising
glyphosate residue definitions and lowering Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) permissible
in biological material intended for food and feed, as well as strengthening environmental
criteria such as accepted residue concentrations in surface waters. It seems that
although recent research indicates that glyphosates are less harmless than previously
assumed and have complex toxicological potential, still regulatory authorities accept
industry demands for approving higher levels of these residues in food and feed
Review of GMO safety assessment studies: glyphosate residues in Roundup Ready crops is an ignored issue
Source at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12302-015-0052-7Background - Genetically modified glyphosate-tolerant cultivar varieties have been a commercial success widely known as Roundup Ready plants. As new glyphosate-tolerant varieties are introduced to satisfy agriculture demand, it is relevant to review the scientific evidence that documents the quality and safety of such biotechnology. Assessments of genetically modified glyphosate-tolerant plants are partly based on the reports from laboratory comparisons with non-modified plants (near-isogenic relatives). Such comparative testing is typically performed as analysis of plant material composition and in animal feeding studies. The material for testing is typically produced in test-fields set up as model environments. Most of this research is planned, performed and reported by researchers employed by biotech industry companies.
Perspective - The present paper aims to: (1) review 15 reports on compositional analyses of glyphosate-tolerant cultivars and 15 reports from animal feeding studies, (2) discuss recent data indicating glyphosate residue in Roundup Ready soybean, (3) outline recent developments of cultivars with increased tolerance to glyphosate.
Findings - The reviewed industry studies show methodological flaws: glyphosate-tolerant GM crops are designed for use with glyphosate herbicide. However, glyphosate herbicides are often not applied in test-study cultivation. In the studies where glyphosate herbicides were applied to growing plants, the produced plant material was not analyzed for glyphosate residues. This review has failed to identify industry studies that mention glyphosate residues in glyphosate-tolerant plants. This indicates that questions and evidence of importance for regulatory assessment have been systematically ignored. Independent research has investigated this issue and found that glyphosate-tolerant plants accumulate glyphosate residues at unexpected high levels. Glyphosate residues are found to have potential to affect plant material composition. Furthermore, these residues are passed on to consumers.
Conclusions - Industry studies are not sufficient for regulation. Despite decades of risk assessments and research in this field, specific unanswered questions relating to safety and quality aspects of food and feed from GM crops need to be addressed by regulators. Independent research gives important supplementary insight
Clone- and age-dependent toxicity of a glyphosate commercial formulation and its active ingredient in Daphnia magna.
This article is part of Marek Cuhra's doctoral thesis which is available in Munin at http://hdl.handle.net/10037/7869Low levels of glyphosate based herbicide
induced significant negative effects on the aquatic invertebrate
Daphnia magna. Glyphosate herbicides such as brands
of Roundup, are known to be toxic to daphnids. However,
published findings on acute toxicity show significant discrepancies
and variation across several orders of magnitude.
To test the acute effects of both glyphosate and a commercial
formulation of Roundup (hereafter Roundup), we conducted
a series of exposure experiments with different clones and
age-classes of D. magna. The results demonstrated EC50 (48)
values in the low ppm-range for Roundup as well as for the
active ingredient (a.i.) isopropylamine salt of glyphosate
(glyphosate IPA) alone. Roundup showed slightly lower
acute toxicity than glyphosate IPA alone, i.e. EC50 values of
3.7â10.6 mg a.i./l, as compared to 1.4â7.2 mg a.i./l for
glyphosate IPA. However, in chronic toxicity tests spanning
the whole life-cycle, Roundup was more toxic. D. magna
was exposed to sublethal nominal concentrations of 0.05,
0.15, 0.45, 1.35 and 4.05 mg a.i./l for 55 days. Significant
reduction of juvenile size was observed even in the lowest
test concentrations of 0.05 mg a.i./l, for both glyphosate and
Roundup. At 0.45 mg a.i./l, growth, fecundity and abortion
rate was affected, but only in animals exposed to Roundup.
At 1.35 and 4.05 mg a.i./l of both glyphosate and Roundup,
significant negative effects were seen on most tested
parameters, including mortality. D. magna was adversely
affected by a near 100 % abortion rate of eggs and
embryonic stages at 1.35 mg a.i./l of Roundup. The results
indicate that aquatic invertebrate ecology can be adversely
affected by relevant ambient concentrations of this major
herbicide. We conclude that glyphosate and Roundup toxicity
to aquatic invertebrates have been underestimated and
that current European Commission and US EPA toxicity
classification of these chemicals need to be revised
In the shadow of liberalization
RĂ©sumĂ©Ă lâombre de la libĂ©ralisation : les rĂ©pressions en TchĂ©coslovaquie dans les annĂ©es 1960Cet article se base principalement sur des documents dâarchives du parti communiste de TchĂ©coslovaquie et de la SĂ©curitĂ© dâĂtat restĂ©s jusquâici inaccessibles. Il se concentre sur certains aspects peu connus du dĂ©veloppement tchĂšque depuis le milieu des annĂ©es 1950 et Ă©tudie les diverses façons dont les hautes instances du parti ont gĂ©rĂ© le processus de dĂ©stalinisation, Ă savoir par une rĂ©pression continuelle et une mauvaise grĂące Ă effectuer une libĂ©ralisation au moins partielle, similaire Ă celle qui eut lieu en Pologne et en Hongrie. Il ne sâagit nullement de donner une description complĂšte du dĂ©veloppement du pays. Lâexplication proposĂ©e ici nâest pas exhaustive et doit ĂȘtre complĂ©tĂ©e, dans la mesure oĂč elle ne repose que sur des revendications concernant la libertĂ© grandissante. Le plus important reste quâil y avait peu de libertĂ© et quâelle Ă©tait lâapanage dâune certaine intelligentsia qui avait ses entrĂ©es au parti, pendant que la majeure partie de la population vivait encore dans lâinsĂ©curitĂ© et sous la surveillance de la police secrĂšte.AbstractThis article is predominantly based on hitherto inaccessible archive materials from the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and State Security. It focuses on some less known aspects of the Czechoslovak development starting in the mid-1950s and surveys the various approaches of the Party leadership towards the so-called âde-Stalinizationâ process--persistent repressive measures and unwillingness to undertake at least a partial liberalization similar to the one that had marked the development in Poland and Hungary. The aim is by no means to depict the development of the country thoroughly. Here, the existing explanation, based on claims concerning the growing freedom, should be completed. The main point is that freedom was rather limited, and in fact solely concerned the members of the intelligentsia that had ties with the Communist Party while the greater part of society was still living in insecurity and under the scrutiny of the secret police
History, Heritage, and Memory in Video Games: Approaching the Past in Svoboda 1945: Liberation and Train to Sachsenhausen
Accepted manuscript version, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. This article explores authenticity, immersion, and heritage in two historical video games, Svoboda 1945: Liberation and Train to Sachsenhausen. The two games use different strategies when inviting understanding, emotional attachment, and immersive experiences of past events. We draw upon a critical, self-reflective analysis of the design process and a comparison of both games. Our aim is to expand further the toolset for historical game analysis and critique by developing the terms inter-medial authenticity and procedural heritage to enable investigations of games as both representations and simulations of historical events. We show that both these aspects can contribute to the roles games can play as conveyors of historical memory and heritage
Compositional differences in soybeans on the market: glyphosate accumulates in Roundup Ready GM soybeans
This article is part of Marek Cuhra's doctoral thesis which is available in Munin at http://hdl.handle.net/10037/7869This article describes the nutrient and elemental composition, including residues of herbicides and pesticides, of 31 soybean batches from Iowa, USA. The soy samples were grouped into three different categories: (i) genetically modified, glyphosate-tolerant soy (GM-soy); (ii) unmodified soy cultivated using a conventional ââchemicalââ cultivation regime; and (iii) unmodified soy cultivated using an organic cultivation regime. Organic soybeans showed the healthiest nutritional profile with more sugars, such as glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose, significantly more total protein, zinc and less fibre than both conventional and GM-soy. Organic soybeans also contained less total saturated fat and total omega-6 fatty acids than both conventional and GM-soy. GM-soy contained high residues of glyphosate and AMPA (mean 3.3 and 5.7 mg/kg, respectively). Conventional and organic soybean batches contained none of these agrochemicals. Using 35 different nutritional and elemental variables to characterise each soy sample, we were able to discriminate GM, conventional and organic soybeans without exception, demonstrating ââsubstantial non-equivalenceââ in compositional characteristics for âready-to-marketâ soybeans
In plastico: laboratory material newness affects growth and reproduction of Daphnia magna reared in 50-ml polypropylene tubes
Plastic laboratory materials are found to affect vital parameters of the waterflea Daphnia magna. The main responsible factor is defined as ânewnessâ of the materials. Juvenile D. magna were raised individually in; a) new laboratory-standard 50âml polypropylene tubes, and; b) identical tubes which had been washed and aerated for several weeks. Newness had significant effects on growth and fecundity of D. magna. New tubes caused delayed maturation, reduced reproduction and reduced growth when compared to washed and re-used tubes of the same commercial brand. The findings indicate that newness of tubes has inhibiting or toxic effects on D. magna. Often laboratory plastics are intended for single-use due to sterility demands. Newness might be an important confounding factor in research results and should not be disregarded. Disposable plastic utensils may come with a seemingly ignored cost and induce adverse effects in biological test-organisms and systems. The presented findings accentuate continued need for general awareness concerning confounding factors stemming from material laboratory environment. Based on the present findings the authors suggest that plastics intended for use in sensitive research may need to be washed and aerated prior to use
Measurement of neutron and gamma field time dependence in core of Training reactor VR-1
Tato prĂĄce se zabĂœvĂĄ Äasovou zĂĄvislostĂ neutronovĂ©ho a gama pole pĆi pĆechodovĂœch jevech na reaktoru VR-1. Jsou zde prezentovĂĄny namÄĆenĂ© experimenty a vĂœsledky jsou diskutovĂĄny. Je zkoumĂĄm vliv zjiĆĄtÄnĂœch poznatkĆŻ na provozovanĂ© experimentĂĄlnĂ Ășlohy.This thesis deals with time dependence of neutron and gamma field during transient phenomenoms on VR-1 reactor. Measured experiments are presented and the results are discussed. The influence of observed results on operated experiments is examined
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