Studies Confirming Source Of Health Issues
Currently, the easiest way to decipher damage from bio-tech companies and pesticide use is to follow Maui County in Hawaii, an area local residents call ground zero. Bio-tech companies have established residency in the region including Monsanto occupying 16,000 acres, DuPont producing hybrid seeds for their $243 million seed industry as well as Dow, BASF and Syngenta all operating on a great portion of the land reported to total 60,000 acres. Excessive spraying and testing is performed on this land with a direct correlation of illness.
Pesticide drift from restricted-use pesticides affects 26 different schools located within a mile of the land. Restricted-use pesticides means they can only be applied by persons specifically trained on proper handling and protocol usage due to potential hazards.
“The DOE (Department of Education) doesn’t track how many times schools have been closed because of concerns regarding pesticide use. In Waimea Canyon Middle School in west Kauai, so many students and teachers were sent home sick from 2006 to 2008 that the county helped pay for a study to figure out what was happening,” the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.
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Health related incidents happened 11 times before action was taken. Incidents included mass vomiting, difficulty concentrating, nausea, children and faculty falling down, headaches and general complaints. On one occasion over 50 children were sent to the health center. It was reported 10 children were sent to the hospital.
The pattern emerged where children and faculty were fine after the weekend but as the school week progressed, with more time spent on school grounds, illnesses increased.
The study cost $150,000.
The Green Island, “Qing Li, the head at the research at UH (University of Hawaii), said he took air samplings 24 hours a day for an entire year, in Waimea and four other schools around the island, analyzed the chemicals and estimated exposure.”
The studies found BHC, DDT, chlorpyrifos, bifenthrin and metolachlor pesticides as well as 14 stinkweed chemicals which naturally occur in the weed as it decomposes.
The land, formerly used for sugar cane, is leased from the school land trust under a nearly tax-free contract.
“They are under siege by the spraying. They’re spraying there every other day, on average, sometimes two out of three days for the entire year. Sometimes the pesticides will settle in the valley, people will cough, noses will bleed, children will wake up with blood on their pillow,” Jeffrey Smith says.
Residents began defensively protecting themselves by closing up their houses, taping up the seams on their windows and sealing the house. Still powdery residue would cover exposed food and household surfaces.
“The incidence of diseases there has skyrocketed, a ten-fold increase in congenital birth defects related to the heart. They have all sorts of breathing situations with asthma, cancer and other diseases, some showing recovery when they leave the area,” Smith says.
Felicia Cowden, a Kilauea resident, told The Green Island, “It’s a disgrace that they try to blame it on a weed,” she said. “This test is an embarrassment.”
Koloa resident Jeri di Pietro told The Green Island, “After the school incident the bio-tech companies planted a field of stinkweed.”
The Honolulu Civil Beat reported the state Department of Agriculture thought the stinkweed was the likeliest culprit for the illnesses even though, “The analysis also found small amounts of pesticides, including atrazine, chlorpyrifos and bifenthrin.”
Monsanto Hawaii said (recorded April 27, 2015), “On November 4, 2014, citizens in Maui County, Hawaii, voted to pass an initiative seeking to ban GMO crops in Maui County. As a longtime community member, we are proud of our operations and of our contributions to the islands. We’ve heard the concerns that people have about GMOs and our farming practices in Maui County, but be assured that we and hundreds of regulatory agencies, researchers and universities around the globe are confident in the safety of our products and our practices.”
They go on to say, “We also understand the negative impact this initiative will have on our employees, the community and on agriculture in Hawaii and beyond. Monsanto remains firm in our commitment to ongoing dialogue with our neighbors, and we will continue to listen to and talk with the members of our community as we determine if this initiative is legal and will be enforced.”
One published study shows Bt toxin eats holes in the human intestinal tract, yet the information has been brushed under the rug. Claims that the toxin causes damage to the stomachs of insects but not in humans has been proven and needs to be recognized as potentially the cause of the increased intestinal problems currently on the rise.
The Journal of Applied Toxicology published the study saying, “Cellular response to Bt toxins does not elicit apoptosis; it induces necrotic effects via a plasma membrane disruption for Cry1Ab within only 24 h. This may be due to pore formation like in insect cells owing to binding to specific receptors or membrane lipid rafts.”
The researchers further said, “We documented that modified Bt toxins are not inert on human cells, but can exert toxicity, at least under certain in vitro conditions. In vivo implications should be now assessed. Our results raise new questions in the risk assessment of food and feed derived from genetically engineered plants.”
Jeffrey Smith, forerunner on the dangers of GMO toxicity and founder of the Institute For Responsible Technology said (April 27, 2015), “They exposed human cells to Bt toxin in test tubes. They found indeed it poked holes in cells just like in insects. In other words the Bt toxin kills the insects by creating little tiny micro-pores in the walls of the intestines, stomach and digestive tract. The bacteria from the digestive tract goes through the digestive tract into other places. It basically destroys the integrity of their guts and they die. The same type of small holes were observed in human cells.”
Smith says this is the link to allergies, auto-immunity and degenerative diseases of the mind.
He goes on to say glyphosate, the active chemical in Roundup, “Goes further, its active ingredient shuts down a biochemical pathway called the shuckamay pathway that is used by our gut bacteria to create tryptophan. Thyptiphan is the precursor to serotonin and melatonin, the precursors to dopamine. These are extremely important neurotransmitters that may be depleted because of the amount of Roundup in our food supply.”
Depleted serotonin is often accompanied with moodiness, the inability to determine when you feel full and blood sugar regulation.
Melatonin is responsible for sleep regulation.
Smith adds, “Roundup can help disable another metabolic pathway that helps the liver detox. It’s an endocrine distributor and promotes the growth of cancer cells in tiny, tiny amounts.”
When the liver does not eliminate toxins correctly the toxic load increases within the body. The more toxic the body, the sicker the person.
However, the EPA says Bt toxin has no ill effect on the human intestinal tract even though Bt toxin causes tiny holes in the stomachs of the insects that eat the Bt toxin treated corn and the tests prove the same happens in human cells.
John Robbins, heir to Baskin-Robbins fortune who left his family and the financial support therein in order to spread the word on the benefits of real food said (April 26, 2015), “The EPA, in making that statement, has been strictly extrapolating from data provided to them by Monsanto and the other biotech companies.”
The people in Hawaii have been actively trying to stop the work, even though these companies are the largest employers in the area. The county council passed a law in late 2014 requiring the chemical companies to disclose the chemicals they use. A higher court struck down the law. A ballot initiative was activated to prevent spraying or pollination contamination onto neighboring lands. The county council received pressure from the industry and struck down the initiative. In Maui, where 3,000 acres are being used, a ballot initiative passed disallowing GMOs until they are proven safe. A court has disallowed the initiative without a hearing. The hearing was scheduled for March, 2015 but has been pushed back.
Currently GMO non-browning apples and non-browning potatoes are being put to market. Both will stay apparently fresh, without spoilage, for 15 days after cutting, even if they are rotten.
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*Nourishing Plot is written by a mom whose son has been delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia through food. This is not a news article published by a paper trying to make money. This blog is put out by a mom who sees first hand the effects of nourishing food vs food-ish items. No company pays her for writing these blogs, she considers this a form of missionary work. It is her desire to scream it from the rooftops so that others don’t suffer from the damaging effect of today’s “food”.
