Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIs it really Zika Virus, or is it Monsanto?
The report, written by the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), suspects that pyriproxyfena larvicide added to drinking water to stop the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tankshas caused the birth defects.
The authors said that the pesticide, known by its commercial name SumiLarv, is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a Japanese subsidiary of Monsanto.
According to PCST, in 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Health introduced pyriproxyfen to drinking-water reservoirs in the state of Pernambuco, where the proliferation of the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is very high.
Malformations detected in thousands of children from pregnant women living in areas where the Brazilian state added pyriproxyfen to drinking water is not a coincidence, even though the Ministry of Health places a direct blame on Zika virus for this damage, while trying to ignore its responsibility and ruling out the hypothesis of direct and cumulative chemical damage caused by years of endocrine and immunological disruption of the a acted population, PCST said.
More at EcoWatch
TDale313
(7,820 posts)If so I hope there's serious repercussions.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)the paper said.
Also, in other countries such as Colombia there are no records of microcephaly; however, there are plenty of Zika cases.
Indeed, as The Ecologist observed from PCSTs report, Colombia has so far diagnosed 3,177 pregnant women with the Zika virus,
but these women gave birth to healthy babies or are carrying healthy fetuses.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)First, it is likely that previously, Brazil underreported cases of microcephaly compared to the US, for example.
Second, the reported 4,000 cases are the result of a board screening. As each case is evaluated, many are being discarded.
So with over 3 million births, maybe the virus caused injury in 2,500. However, it is a certainty that not all pregnant mothers were infected.
The numbers (please read FactCheck.org) strongly suggest that a chemical in the water isn't at fault, because that would be a much broader exposure.
More will be known in just a few months.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)...
21st Century Poet
(254 posts)This sounds more like a conspiracy theory to me than real science.
Another one which I heard is that Bill Gates is spreading the Zika virus to bring population growth under control.
2naSalit
(86,765 posts)JFKDem62
(383 posts)It affects the young and old the most.
GoneFishin
(5,217 posts)NickB79
(19,258 posts)CDC officials confirmed to ABC News that the women who miscarried were being monitored by their doctors after they were diagnosed with the Zika virus. In total, at least three women in the U.S. have been infected with Zika after returning from abroad with the virus.
One woman in Hawaii gave birth to a child with microcephaly in January. That woman is believed to have been exposed to the Zika virus in Brazil last year. In all three cases the Zika virus was found in the placenta.
Pretty hard to say it's pesticides if women who were never exposed to these pesticides are being affected.
bananas
(27,509 posts)The article says all three were exposed "abroad".
It says the one with microcephaly was exposed in Brazil,
doesn't specify the country for the two miscarriages but Brazil is likely.
bananas
(27,509 posts)According to the March of Dimes, as many as 50% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage -- most often before a woman misses a menstrual period or even knows she is pregnant. About 15-25% of recognized pregnancies will end in a miscarriage.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,355 posts)quoted on the Tokyo stock exchange:
http://www.sumitomo-chem.co.jp/english/company/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumitomo_Chemical
The report seems to have confused collaboration in Latin America between Sumitomo and Monsanto on herbicides, with Sumitomo's production of pyriproxyfen, an insecticide.
But getting 'Monsanto' into a headline on DU (or in the USA generally) will guarantee hits. If they said "Sumitomo", or "Japanese chemical company", the outrage would be a lot less.
progressoid
(49,996 posts)But it does make for great knee jerk reactions.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)There have been a few western cases, notably this one, in which zika has been found.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-zika-science-idUSKCN0VJ2M7
If zika is causing neural birth defects, then it is likely that these cases will emerge in Columbia over the next four or five months.
Zika probably got to Columbia later. There probably hasn't been time.
http://www.virology.ws/2016/02/10/zika-virus-and-microcephaly/
It doesn't seem possible that zika causes birth defects in all or most exposed pregnancies. Nor are the tests that great - they probably have false positives and false negatives.
https://www.rt.com/news/332391-colombia-zika-spread-pregnant/
Also, be aware that Brazil's screening for microcephaly is probably catching some normal kids. They are just using a size index. In the US, when non-acute microcephaly is detected in infants the standard is watchful waiting.
Finally, the pattern of eye and brain defects found is odd, and seems unlikely to be from a toxin. The chemical being blamed her has been around for quite some time, and is used in flea medicines in the US. I would think any such association would have shown up long before.
NickB79
(19,258 posts)Zika has been found to cross the placenta.
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)"...
Each case is different, though; so lets take a look at this particular claim. First off, what is Pyriproxyfen? Basically, its a pesticide that is effective against a wide variety of arthropoda (insects). Specifically, its a a juvenile hormone analog that prevents insect larvae from developing into adulthood and thus renders them unable to reproduce. It was introduced into the US in 1996 to protect crops against the whitefly.
Now heres the thing. Its not as though pyriproxyfen hasnt been well studied. The WHO even has a web page with its guidelines for pyriproxifen in drinking water. A great deal is known about its physiochemical properties, toxicology, and safe levels. Specifically, the WHO recommends that the dosage of pyriproxyfen in potable water in containers should not exceed 0.01 mg/L under the WHO Pesticides Evaluation Scheme. More specifically:
...
I would also add that Brazil would have to have been using truly massive doses to exceed the acceptable daily intake, not to mention that humans do not make or use sesquiterpenoid hormones (a.k.a. insect juvenile hormones), which is what pyriproxifen targets. Finally, one cant help but notice that Doctors in the Crop-Sprayed Towns is anything but an objective group. Its been around at least since 2010, and its message has always been the same dating back to 2010: That pesticides cause spontaneous abortions, infertility, congenital malformations, and a wide variety of disorders. In other words, this is a biased report from a biased group presenting no evidence to back up its conclusions. Its all speculation based on a fear of pesticides.
...
There are lots of conspiracy theories out there. Theres lots of pseudoscience out there. Whenever something like the Zika virus makes it into the news, you can be absolutely sure that conspiracy theories based on pseudoscience will inevitably follow. Thats why its so critical to do a little research before sharing something like this. When you have such an enormous social media platform, you owe it to your fans not to use it to spread misinformation like this."
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And the product is made by Sumitomo, not Monsanto. ...