People who enjoy drinking beer need to take a keen interest in the result of a research study done by the United States Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), which discovered the presence of a chemical used to kill weed pests in 20 popular alcoholic beverages.
In the study, PIRG detected glyphosate, which is the active agent in the popular pesticide, Roundup, which is produced by global agricultural chemicals giant, Monsanto, and used by farmers in several countries around world to control weed pests in barley farms. Barley is a major raw material for the production of beer. Listed among the brands tested by the researchers are two alcoholic brands popular in Nigeria (“Henken” beer and “Goodness” stout).
Commenting on the findings in the report, “Bottoms Up: Glyphosate pesticide in beer and wine,” author of the study, Kara Cook, who is the Toxic Programme Director of PIRG, said: “The levels we found are not in themselves dangerous. They are well below the tolerance levels set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). I wouldn’t tell somebody, ‘Don’t drink beer or wine.’”
Nonetheless, the next time you enjoy a glass of wine or a bottle of beer, chances are that would also be drinking pesticide, glyphosate. The pesticide is also found in many foods. It is used in gardens and been found in rainwater.
On the health implications of this discovery, Cook said: “What we don’t know is what the cumulative effect of all these exposures are over a lifetime.”
In view of the potential health danger posed to human beings, the PIRG urged the EPA to ban glyphosate until it can be proven to be safe, given that other studies have linked glyphosate to cancer. Cook explained that residues may show up in beer if the pesticide is used on barley, for instance, and in wine if growers spray the weeds near grapevines.
A toxicologist for Bayer which owns Monsanto, producer of Roundup challenged the findings and recommendation of the study, stressing that PIRG “is publicizing misleading information about pesticide residues in food.”
Reeves raised issues about the research, including the method the researchers used to measure the levels of pesticide in the beverages, which he said was not acceptable for use with any source other than water.
He argued that a 125-pound person would need to drink a large amount of wine a day for life to reach the EPA tolerable limit for people.
Evaluating the samples
For the report, the PIRG researchers tested five wines, 14 beers, and one hard cider for the presence of glyphosate. The amount detected ranged from a high of 51 parts per billion (ppb) in a Sutter Home wine to no detectable levels in Peak Organic IPA beer.
To put those numbers in perspective, the EPA sets allowable glyphosate residues on more than 150 different food and feed crops (but not a limit on beer or wine), and it ranges from 0.2 to 400 ppm — or 200 to 400,000 ppb.
In a statement, the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for the California wine industry, said the study acknowledged that the amounts [of pesticide] found were low. In the same vein, the Beer Institute, a national trade association, said in a statement: “Our members work with farmers who go to great lengths to raise their crops sustainably and safely. The federal government tests a variety of commodities for glyphosate regularly, and the results of the most recent federal testing showed farmers’ use of glyphosate falls well below federal limits.”
In the face of the ping-pong of claims and counter-claims between the PIRG and representative of the beer and wine industries, the big question remains: does glyphosate cause cancer?
On its webpage, the EPA says that glyphosate products can be safely used if label directions are followed and that it has ‘’low toxicity for humans.”
Some research by the World Health Organization linked glyphosate with cancer, but another report did not, Cook noted in the report.
In recent years, some communities have banned the use of Roundup. In a significant 2018 lawsuit, a jury in California ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million to a groundskeeper who said the pesticide caused his cancer.
Already, a San Francisco court, in California, has started hearing arguments in the first federal civil case over whether Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.
►Adapted from Webmd.com