Study: Pesticide Ingredients Far More Dangerous than Reported

Pesticides have been shown time and time again to be toxic to humans, wildlife, and the ecosystem as a whole. This isn’t a news flash; it’s commonly accepted. As a new study to be found in BioMed Research International points out, pesticides are far more toxic than their makers and regulators would have us believe. The research indicates some of the ingredients within these poisons actually amplify the toxicity of the individual ingredients.

The adjuvants within pesticides are the ingredients that need a closer look. These are regularly declared as inert, or non-toxic, but they actually impact the active or known-toxic ingredients in a frightening way.

Because they are generally declared inert, the researchers say, “it is thus very surprising that they amplify up to 1000 times the toxicity of their active principle in 100% of the cases where they are indicated to be present by the manufacturer.”

In other words, these inert ingredients take already toxic ingredients and make them even more dangerous.

The researchers call pesticide manufacturers and regulators to task, calling the definition of these adjuvants as inert “nonsense”.

“Even if the US Environmental Protection Agency has recently changed the appellation for ‘other ingredients’, pesticide adjuvants should be considered as the first toxic ‘active’ compounds.”

These pesticide makers are able to classify the toxicity of their products based on the toxicity of the singular, isolated ingredients. But as the study shows, when put together, the toxicity is amplified, something not currently accounted for. when examining the crazy, nasty effects of pesticides.

“This inconsistency between scientific fact and industrial claim may be attributed to huge economic interests, which have been found to falsify health risk assessments and delay health policy decisions.”

Of the pesticides studied for the project, Monsanto’s Roundup was unsurprisingly the “most toxic”. Eight of the nine pesticides tested were several hundred times more toxic than their active ingredients suggested.

The European regulatory body, European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), said the study was poorly executed and therefore “irrelevant”. They are choosing to ignore the findings completely. Because the researchers applied the pesticides and tested ingredients directly to cultured human cell lines, the agency says they neglected to account for the protective barrier of the skin and therefore their findings are not accurate.