Pesticides in Formulations: New Revolutionary Findings.

Everything began with the discovery that pesticides have long had unintended side effects on non-target species, which is illustrated by Ponepal et al [...

Petroleum in Pesticides: A Need to Change Regulatory Toxicology.

Toxicological investigations of pesticides largely focus on the declared active ingredient, which constitutes only between a few percent to around 50% of the total formulation. The complete formulations are unknown. For each declared active ingredient, there are dozens or hundreds of formulations.

Dataset of pollutants in organic and non-organic food.

Organic and non-organic equivalent corresponding type of foods were assessed for pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides and heavy metals. In total, 35 samples of sausages and cheeses were tested from three western European countries, Spain, France, and Germany. These samples were chosen because they are meat and milk products presenting some bioaccumulation capacity.

Excretion of Heavy Metals and Glyphosate in Urine and Hair Before and After Long-Term Fasting in Humans.

Dietary exposure to environmental pollutants in humans is an important public health concern. While long-term fasting interrupts the dietary exposure to these substances, fat mobilization as an energy source may also release bioaccumulated substances. This was, to our knowledge, only investigated in obese people decades ago.

A Glyphosate-Based Formulation but Not Glyphosate Alone Alters Human Placental Integrity.

Glyphosate (G)-based herbicidal formulations, such as the most commonly used one, Roundup (R), are major pesticides used worldwide on food and feed. Pregnant women may be frequently exposed to R compounds. These are composed of G, which is declared as the active principle, and other products contained in formulations, named formulants, which have been declared as inerts and diluents by the manufacturers.

Endocrine disruptors also function as nervous disruptors and can be renamed endocrine and nervous disruptors (ENDs).

Endocrine disruption (ED) and endocrine disruptors (EDs) emerged as scientific concepts in 1995, after numerous chemical pollutants were found to be responsible for reproductive dysfunction. The World Health Organization established in the United Nations Environment Programme a list of materials, plasticizers, pesticides, and various pollutants synthesized from petrochemistry that impact not only reproduction, but also hormonal functions, directly or indirectly. Cells communicate via either chemical or electrical signals transmitted within the endocrine or nervous systems.

Dataset of compounds in glyphosate-free herbicides.

We analysed 14 recently marketed pesticides for consumers, available in France, Germany, and Poland. They were supposed to be glyphosate-free herbicides; glyphosate was banned for sale to the public in 2019. Measurements of 36 metals, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 6 essential minerals, and glyphosate plus aminomethyl phosphonic acid, were performed in a laboratory accredited for regulatory purposes.

Toxic compounds in herbicides without glyphosate.

Glyphosate has been banned in some herbicidal formulations. We analyse for the first time 14 marketed products in Europe where glyphosate was replaced by acetic, pelargonic, caprylic or capric acids, or even benzalkonium chloride, to be supposedly less toxic. 35 heavy metals, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and essential minerals were tested by specific mass spectrometry associated with gas chromatography or inductively coupled plasma methods in the formulations.

Author Correction: An integrated multi-omics analysis of the NK603 Roundup-tolerant GM maize reveals metabolism disturbances caused by the transformation process.

A correction has been published and is appended to both the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Reply to 'Comments on two recent publications on GM maize and Roundup'.

The opinion expressed by Eriksson and colleagues' fails to recognise that there are no standard experimental designs for academic investigations involving omics analyses of genetically modified crops and that the only valid comparator to determine the effect of the process of transgenesis is a near isogenic variety grown at the same time and location, as was the case in our investigation of NK603 maize. Eriksson does not acknowledge that the quality of the rat liver tissues in our chronic Roundup toxicity study has neither been questioned nor branded as unsuitable for further investigation. In addition, Eriksson fails to appreciate that the statistical methods we used to analyse the liver metabolomics dataset are recognised as appropriate as some of a number of approaches that can be taken.

Author Correction: Multiomics reveal non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats following chronic exposure to an ultra-low dose of Roundup herbicide.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has not been fixed in the paper.

Sex-dependent impact of Roundup on the rat gut microbiome.

A growing body of research suggests that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota induced by environmental pollutants, such as pesticides, could have a role in the development of metabolic disorders. We have examined the long-term effects of 3 doses of the Roundup(R) herbicide (made of glyphosate and formulants) on the gut microbiota in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. A total of 141 bacteria families were identified by a 16S sequencing analysis approach.

Toxicity of formulants and heavy metals in glyphosate-based herbicides and other pesticides.

The major pesticides of the world are glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH), and their toxicity is highly debated. To understand their mode of action, the comparative herbicidal and toxicological effects of glyphosate (G) alone and 14 of its formulations were studied in this work, as a model for pesticides. GBH are mixtures of water, with commonly 36-48% G claimed as the active principle.

Transcriptome and metabolome analysis of liver and kidneys of rats chronically fed NK603 Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize.

Background: A previous 2-year rat feeding trial assessing potential toxicity of NK603 Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize revealed blood and urine biochemical changes indicative of liver and kidney pathology. In an effort to obtain deeper insight into these findings, molecular profiling of the liver and kidneys from the same animals was undertaken.

Results: Transcriptomics showed no segregation of NK603 maize and control feed groups with false discovery rates ranging from 43 to 83% at a cut-off value of 1%.

Multiomics reveal non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats following chronic exposure to an ultra-low dose of Roundup herbicide.

The impairment of liver function by low environmentally relevant doses of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) is still a debatable and unresolved matter. Previously we have shown that rats administered for 2 years with 0.1 ppb (50 ng/L glyphosate equivalent dilution; 4 ng/kg body weight/day daily intake) of a Roundup GBH formulation showed signs of enhanced liver injury as indicated by anatomorphological, blood/urine biochemical changes and transcriptome profiling.

An integrated multi-omics analysis of the NK603 Roundup-tolerant GM maize reveals metabolism disturbances caused by the transformation process.

Glyphosate tolerant genetically modified (GM) maize NK603 was assessed as 'substantially equivalent' to its isogenic counterpart by a nutrient composition analysis in order to be granted market approval. We have applied contemporary in depth molecular profiling methods of NK603 maize kernels (sprayed or unsprayed with Roundup) and the isogenic corn to reassess its substantial equivalence status. Proteome profiles of the maize kernels revealed alterations in the levels of enzymes of glycolysis and TCA cycle pathways, which were reflective of an imbalance in energy metabolism.

Dig1 protects against locomotor and biochemical dysfunctions provoked by Roundup.

Background: Plant medicinal extracts may be claimed to prevent or cure chemical intoxications. Few of these are tested for their mechanisms of actions in vivo and for their cellular impacts. In 2011, we demonstrated that hepatic cell mortality induced by environmentally realistic levels of the widely used herbicide Roundup (R) in vitro can be almost entirely prevented by plant extracts called Dig1 (D, Digeodren).

Co-Formulants in Glyphosate-Based Herbicides Disrupt Aromatase Activity in Human Cells below Toxic Levels.

Pesticide formulations contain declared active ingredients and co-formulants presented as inert and confidential compounds. We tested the endocrine disruption of co-formulants in six glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH), the most used pesticides worldwide. All co-formulants and formulations were comparably cytotoxic well below the agricultural dilution of 1% (18-2000 times for co-formulants, 8-141 times for formulations), and not the declared active ingredient glyphosate (G) alone.

Transcriptome profile analysis reflects rat liver and kidney damage following chronic ultra-low dose Roundup exposure.

Background: Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are the major pesticides used worldwide. Converging evidence suggests that GBH, such as Roundup, pose a particular health risk to liver and kidneys although low environmentally relevant doses have not been examined. To address this issue, a 2-year study in rats administering 0.

Potential toxic effects of glyphosate and its commercial formulations below regulatory limits.

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GlyBH), including Roundup, are the most widely used pesticides worldwide. Their uses have increased exponentially since their introduction on the market. Residue levels in food or water, as well as human exposures, are escalating.

Laboratory Rodent Diets Contain Toxic Levels of Environmental Contaminants: Implications for Regulatory Tests.

The quality of diets in rodent feeding trials is crucial. We describe the contamination with environmental pollutants of 13 laboratory rodent diets from 5 continents. Measurements were performed using accredited methodologies.

Cardiotoxic Electrophysiological Effects of the Herbicide Roundup(®) in Rat and Rabbit Ventricular Myocardium In Vitro.

Roundup (R), a glyphosate (G)-based herbicide (GBH), containing unknown adjuvants is widely dispersed around the world. Used principally by farmers, intoxications have increasingly been reported. We have studied R effects (containing 36 % of G) on right ventricular tissues (male Sprague-Dawley rats, up to 20,000 ppm and female New Zealand rabbits, at 25 and 50 ppm), to investigate R cardiac electrophysiological actions in vitro.