Transgenic foods have been part of our diet for more than a decade. Since then there are many people who doubt their safety who think they could cause harmful effects on our body.
In 2002, both the WHO and the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) declared that given the available evidence and the studies carried out the probability that GM foods were a health risk were very remote.
However, a recent study published in March shows the presence of different toxins derived from GM crops in non-pregnant women, in pregnant women and, most worrisome, in fetuses.
Results of the study
The study has been carried out in Québec (Canada) and it is observed that the Bt toxin, produced by modified soybeans and corn, appears very frequently in these population groups.
Specifically, the presence of this toxin in 83% of blood samples of pregnant women, in 80% of fetus samples and in 69% of non-pregnant women.
Neither the women who participated in the study nor their partners worked with insecticides nor were they related to transgenic food beyond their consumption. That is why it was deduced that the presence of said toxin in the blood is caused by the consumption of foods containing GM corn or soybeans.
In addition to the Bt toxin, herbicide was also found glyphosate, whose safety in humans is in question (WHO considers it "mildly toxic" and the Environmental Protection Agency - EPA - has found on more than one occasion manipulated scientific data about its safety), in 5% of pregnant women , herbicide glufosinate, of which the European Commission has said that "it can cause fetal harm" and that "it can affect fertility", in 18% of non-pregnant women and 3-MPPA, which is the metabolic product of glufosinate, which was found in 100% of pregnant women and in equal proportion in fetuses and in 67% of non-pregnant women.
The first study that shows the amount of toxins in the blood?
I have a hard time believing it, and if true it seems incredible and deplorable, but it seems that This study is the first one carried out to show the presence of pesticide residues used with GM foods in the blood of a non-pregnant woman and in the blood of pregnant women and their fetuses:
To our knowledge, this is the first study to highlight the presence of pesticides-associated genetically modified foods in maternal, fetal and nonpregnant women's blood.
Conclusions after the study
The study authors declare that, given the results and knowing that the remains of pesticides found in blood are potentially toxic, it is imperative to carry out more studies, especially in those products that pass the placental barrier reaching the fetuses.
The effects of these toxins in the pregnancy of women are unknown, although as they comment, could be related to abortions, prematurity, delayed intrauterine growth and preeclampsia, in addition to some problems related to fertility, such as intertility, endometriosis and uterine cancer.
In other words, it is possible that transgenic foods are harmless to our health, since to date the opposite has not been proven, but it seems that by eating them, bouncing, we ingest the toxins from the pesticides that are used for their culture.
Given these data and these suspicions, I agree with the authors that studies are needed to help show light behind such a shadow, although seeing that this is the first study in fifteen years that shows these data, and knowing that there are scientists retouching results for give some of these pesticides as safe, we will have a hard time knowing what the true truth is (forgive the redundancy).
