Are the Glory Days Over for Glyphosate?

written by Elise Miller, EdM
Director 

The scientific evidence is mounting that glyphosate-based herbicides, which are the most heavily applied in the world, may not be the panacea for feeding the world’s hungry as its proponents have argued. A year ago the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that glyphosate (also known by “Roundup”, one of its brand names) is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Last month, over a dozen researchers published a Statement of Concern, asserting that regulations have not kept up with the emerging science on links between glyphosate exposure and human health concerns, particularly in light of the 100-fold increase in the use of the herbicide since the late 1970s. Just this past Monday, a new biomonitoring study was published that found the vast majority of Germans have glyphosate residues in their bodies, and a third of the population has levels 10 to 42 times higher than what is currently considered a safe threshold of exposure.

Air Pollution and Weight Gain, Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome: Recent Findings

written by Sarah Howard
Coordinator of the Diabetes-Obesity Spectrum Working Group

Two studies published this month provided strong support for the idea that air pollution may cause weight gain, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome.

In the first study, pregnant rats exposed to Beijing’s air gained significantly more weight during pregnancy than those breathing filtered air. Their offspring (exposed pre- and postnatally) were also significantly heavier at 8 weeks of age.

In the second study, Mexican Americans living in Southern California exposed to ambient air pollutants had lower glucose tolerance, higher insulin resistance, and adverse blood lipid concentrations.  According to the authors, “the magnitudes of effect from a 1-[standard deviation] difference of [fine particulate matter] on metabolic outcomes were similar compared with the impact of a 1-unit change in percent body fat or [body mass index] BMI on the same metabolic outcomes.”