Contents
The main problem of transgenic plants
As it has been commented, the main problem of transgenics is not so much in food itself, but in the various environmental, economic, socio-cultural and food globalization issues.
Among these issues, pesticides that are used in transgenic fields deserve special concern.
Pesticides in transgenic harm the environment
Transgenic seeds are grown with pesticides that are very aggressive for the environment, such as glyphosate. When these products are applied, most plants and insects die (all: pests, pollinators and beneficial insects), except the seeds of GMO plants, which are genetically resistant to these pesticides.
Pesticides, such as glyphosate, can accumulate in the soil, contaminate water and disperse through the air, thus reaching other plants, animals and populations. This causes serious damage to the ecosystem, to the health of forests, plants, animals and people. As if that were not enough, the farmer who uses glyphosate should forget to grow pumpkins or other vegetables, because glyphosate kills them.
Why are pesticides in transgenics bad for human health?
Pesticides remain in the skin of farmers and in food, and can cause various diseases, because, by definition, any type of pesticide is toxic to health (even organic pesticides).
However, what the “new pesticides” have in particular is that they are made with new, artificial molecules (which do not exist naturally in the environment) and that many are persistent compounds, being able to pass from mothers to children through pregnancy and breastfeeding, or staying in a field for many years, contaminating everything that arises in the future.
Pesticides in transgenics and cancer
The relationship between these new pesticides with different types of cancer is being studied. The studies focus not only on the farmers who apply these products (occupational exposure), but also on their families and consumers.
It has been observed that organophosphorus-type pesticides and carbamates cause attention deficit in children and cause brain cancer in children whose parents have an occupational exposure to these products.
Consumers are less exposed to these pesticides since they can be eliminated completely, or almost completely, with good cleaning and / or cooking of vegetables.
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