The ingredient used to replace glyphosate in Bayer Roundup weedkiller can kill gut bacteria and damage organs, according to a new study reported by The Guardian.
Widely used in the USA as a weedkiller in vineyards and orchards, the ingredient diquat is increasingly sprayed elsewhere as the use of controversial herbicide substances such as glyphosate and paraquat drops in the USA, according to the 6 July report.
Conducted by the Department of Emergency, Suining Central Hospital in China’s Sichuan province, the new data suggested diquat was more toxic than glyphosate, The Guardian wrote.
Although the substance had been banned in the UK, the European Union (EU), China and many other countries, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had resisted calls for a ban, and Roundup formulas with the ingredient had been available in the USA since last year, the report said.
At the time of the report, Bayer had not responded to a request for comment.
Nathan Donley, science director with the Center For Biological Diversity, which advocates for stricter pesticide regulations but was not involved in the new research, said the use of the new ingredient was a “regrettable substitution” – a scientific term used to describe the replacement of a toxic substance in a consumer product with an ingredient that is also toxic.
Diquat is also thought to be a neurotoxin, carcinogen and linked to Parkinson’s disease, the report said.
According to October analysis of EPA data by non-profit organisation Friends of the Earth (FOE), it is about 200 times more toxic than glyphosate in terms of chronic exposure.
German chemical giant Bayer has faced nearly 175,000 lawsuits linked to its Roundup weedkiller brand, which came with its US$63bn acquisition of US agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.
Bayer reformulated Roundup after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a possible carcinogen.
Published on 12 May on the Frontiers research website, the latest study focused on the multiple ways in which diquat damaged organs and gut bacteria, including by reducing the level of proteins that are key pieces of the gut lining.
The weakening could allow toxins and pathogens to move from the stomach into the bloodstream, and trigger inflammation in the intestines and throughout the body, the study said.
Diquat could also inhibit the production of beneficial bacteria that maintained the gut lining. Damage to the lining also inhibited the absorption of nutrients and energy metabolism, the authors said.
In addition, the research looked at how the substance harmed the kidneys, lungs and liver and it also seemed to attack the lungs by triggering inflammation that damaged the organ’s tissue. More generally, the inflammation caused by diquat could cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, a scenario in which organ systems begin to fail.
However, the authors noted that many of the studies were conducted on rodents and more research on low, long-term exposure was needed.
