Dr. Thierry Vrain, a molecular biologist and retired federal government research scientist, wrapped up his week of public presentations about glyphosate spraying in New Brunswick by talking about the controversial herbicide with CBC Information Morning host Terry Seguin on Monday, Nov. 6.
Dr. Vrain presented research showing the unacceptable long-term health risks of glyphosate spraying to public forums in St. Louis-de-Kent, Edmundston, Petitcodiac and Fredericton Junction last week. The presentations were organized by Stop Spraying in New Brunswick, host communities and other partners.
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Dr. Vrain has a doctorate in plant pathology, worked as a research scientist for the federal government for 30 years (where he researched genetically-modified potatoes, among other projects), was the head of the Biotechnology and Nematology sections at B.C.’s Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre, and recently served as president of the International Federation of Nematology Societies.
Here are some highlights and quotes from his interview on CBC:
- “Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide RoundUp. It kills all plants. Most herbicides are selective; they kill one kind of plant. This (glyphosate) is a very non-selective herbicide, it kills all plants.”
- How long does it stay in the environment once sprayed? “It is remarkably stable as a synthetic molecule. In most soil, it takes weeks and months (to leave the environment), and there is a study done in Sweden where they still found glyphosate (in the soil) three years later.”
- What are the short-term and long-term health effects? “Acute (short term) toxicity is very low. But it turns out that the chronic toxicity is very high. That means if you are exposed to a very slight dose of it daily, you are going to become diseased.” Dr. Vrain says studies have shown, such as one conducted in Germany, that glyphosate accumulates in basically all of the organs in the bodies of animals exposed to it.
- “There is absolutely no research (on the health effects of glyphosate) on humans. All we can do is speculate with all the data that we have from research on animals. There is a lot of research done on animals in the last few years, with rats and pigs, and it’s very obvious that within months or years of being fed glyphosate at low doses, very low doses, the animals become chronically diseased with cancer, tumours, kidney and livers are shot, obesity.”
- Dr. Vrain says glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill important bacteria in our large intestine. He said scientists have now discovered that these bacteria influence or control things such as how much serotonin our brains produce, and the health of our immune system, for example. “So immune deficiencies are very common when you are exposed to this chemical.”
Listen to the full interview here: