Breakfast Cereals Scrutinized For Pesticide That May Harm Reproduction

Authorized by Sina McCullough via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Imagine starting your day with a bowl of ceremony that could be powerfully affecting your family’s health. Recent studies show that chlormequat, a pesticide linked to reproductive issues, has been found in popular breakfast ceremonies like Quaker Oaks and Cheerios. As this substance infiltrates the American food supply, the potent risks to our wellness and future generation loom larger, raising urent questions about the safety of our everyday food choices.

In a survey published in the diary of vulnerability discipline & Environmental Epidemiology on Feb. 15, 2024, researchers reviewed alarming uncovering respecting the prevalence of chlormequat.

Chlormequat was detected in the urine of 4 out of 5 people or 80 percent of Americans tested. Additional, 92 percent of oat-based foods tested contained chlormequat, including Quaker Oaks and Cheerios.

This study—the first to study urinary chlormequat measurements in adults surviving in the United States—highlights the possible widespread presentation of chlormequat and the necessity for transparency and further investment into possible wellness impacts for consumers.

(Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock)

What is Chlormequat?

Chlormequat, well known in the salt form as chlormequat chloride, is an agricultural chemical first registered in the United States in 1962 as a plant growth regulator. Plant growth regulators are chemical substances employed to control and regulate plant growth, flowering, and fruit young, according to a 2006 survey in the global diary of Andrology.

Chlormequat application in Grain crops results in reduced stem height, thereby minimizing the occurence of lodging (bending over), which can reduce the efficiency of the hardening process.

Chlormequat is the world’s most common plant growth regulator according to a 2020 survey published in Toxicology. “Chlormequat is frequently the most detected pesticide residue in graves and ceremonies, as documented by monitoring surveys spanning respective years,” according to the 2024 study. It is applied for usage in Europe and parts of North America.

In the United States, chlormequat is permitted exclusively for usage on ornamental plants and is protected for application on food crops grown within the country. Therefore, the presence of chlormequat in Cheerios and another around-based foods sold in the United States races questions respecting its induction into the food supply chain.

How Did Chlormequat Enter the US Food Supply?

In April 2018 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowed chlormequat into the food supply by establishing acceptable food tolerance levels for chlormequat chloride in imported oats, wheat, barley, and choice animal products. This action allowed for the importation and sale of these agricultural products even if treated with chlormequat.

Consecently, U.S. consumers may unknownly be ingesting tainted imported foods—potentially exposing themselfs to chlormequat or its residues.

In 2020, the allowable chlormequat levels were introduced for oats. In April of 2023, the EPA proposed allowing the first-ever usage of chlormequat on barley, oat, Wheat, and triticale grown in the United States. If passed, vulnerability levels may increase, raising deals about its impacts on wellness and food safety.

Heath Concerts Surrounding Chlormequat

Chlormequat, while not as notorious as another pesticides, has long been linked to reproductive and developmental deals in animal research.

In the 1980s, Danish pig farmers observed reproductive declines in pigs consummating chlormequat-treated graves, according to a 2006 article in the global diary of Andrology.

The reflection led to a controlled laboratory study, which confirmed impaired reproduction. Specifically, owls fed chlormequat-treated Grain experienced impaired reproduction, primary disruptions in oestrus cycling, and difficulty mating, as citted in the 2006 article.

These finds promoted the Danish pig manufacture to urge restoration the usage of crops treated with chlormequat and another growth regulators (up to a maximum of 30 percent diet energy) due to possible reproductive issues.

Simular findings were observed in 1999 erstwhile tiny mice exposed to chlormequat through food or drinking water demonstrated “significantly diminishing and cleanage rate” of sperm, indicating a decrease in sperm function, according to a survey in Reproduction Toxicology.

Of significance, the estimated intake of chlormequat in the abovementioned pig (0.0023 milligrams (mg)/kilograms (kg) body weight (bw) per day) and mouse (0.024 mg/kg bw/day) experiments fell below the mention dose published by the EPA (0.05 mg/kg bw per day) and the accepted regular intake published by the European Food Safety Authority (0.04 mg/kg bw/day), according to the 2024 study. These finds rise deals respecting the current established limits set by regulators authorities.

Recent studies further show chlormequat’s reproductive and developmental toxicity, including:

• Delayed onset of puberty: According to a 2020 survey in Toxicology Letters, tiny instalments exposed to chlormequat from postnatal day 23 to 60 demonstrated reduced prostate weight and delayed onset of puberty.
• Reduced sperm motility: Male instalments exposed to chlormequat in utero demonstrated a delayed onset of puberty as well as decreased sperm motility, according to a 2021 survey in Toxicology Letters.
• Decreased testosterone: tiny adult instalments exposed to chlormequat by oral gavage (delivering substances straight to the tummy via a bullb-tipped needle) demonstrated lower theoretical weight, decreased sperm motility, and decreased testosterone, according to a 2018 survey in Toxicology Letters.

Moreover, developmental toxicity studies propose that chlormequat exposure during pregency can disrupt fetal growth and metabolism postnatally, indicating a lasting impact on offspring improvement in instalments. For instance, a 2020 survey published in Toxicology reported maternal vulnerability to chlormequat in instalments led to increase effects on postnatal health, including hypoglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and hyperproteinemia 7 days after birth combined with controls.

A 2007 survey in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry reported detection levels of chlormequat in blood, as well as its transfer into milk, in pigs exposed to chlormequat. While these markers have not been curious in humans, they rise concerts respecting possible impacts for fetal vulnerability during pregency and infants’ vulnerability through breakfast.

Some studies have failed to detect crucial impacts of chlormequat on reproduction in female mice or tiny pigs, or the fertilization capacity in tiny mice exposed to chlormequat during improvement and postnatally. The equivocal findings in the toxicological literature concerning chlormequat could stem from variations in tested doses, result means, and/or surviving sources. According to a 2006 survey in the global diary of Andrology, “Reports from the manufacture to not show any effects at these low levels.”

Aim of fresh Ground-Breaking Study

Considering the wellness deals underscored in the technological literature, the goal of the 2024 survey was to measure the impact of the EPA's decision to licence chlormequat in the United States food supply.

Study Design

The 2024 survey reported chlormequat levels in the urine of individuals from 3 destinations geographical regions in the United States span from 2017 to 2023. Specificly, 21 urine samples were collected in South Carolina in 2017, 25 samples were collected in Missouri from 2017 to 2022, and 50 samples were occupied in Florida in 2023.

The survey besides examined chlormequat levels in oat and wheat-based products acquired in the United States during 2022 and 2023. Specificly, 25 conventional oat-based food items were analyzed during this period, along with 8 organic oat-based products and 9 conventional wheat-based foods.

Study Results

Urine Analysis

Chlormequat was detected in 80 percent (77 out of 96) of urine samples.

The authors noted a rising trend in chlormequat vulnerability over time, with detection frequencias not necessarily selected in 2023 samples combined to these from 2017 and the years 2018 to 2022. Specifically, in 2017, 69 percent of samples tested positive, while from 2018 to 2022, 74 percent were positive. In Stark contrast, 90 percent of samples in 2023 were positive, representing a crucial increase compared to all erstwhile years experienced.

Accepting to the researchers, “These data indicative likely continuous vulnerability given the short half-life of chlormequat [2–3 hours].”

To measure whother the rising concentrations detected in the urine samples reflected possible dietary vulnerability to chlormequat, the researchers analyzed chlormequat levels in oat and wheat-based food products purchased in the United States.

Food vulnerability Analysis

The results of the food analysis were equally successful: a advanced percent of conventional oat-based products tested affirmative for chlormequat, with popular brands like Quaker Oaks and Cheerios among these affected.

Specificly, 92 percent (23 out of 25) of conventional oat-based products tested affirmative for the presence of chlormequat, “indicating a advanced probability of chlormequat in boats,” according to the study. This highlights the potent hazard posted to consumers, partially children, who may consume these products regularly.

Chlormequat was detected in 12.5 percent (one out of eight) of organic oat-based products tested. Additional, 22 percent (two out of Nine) of conventional wheat-based products tested affirmative for chlormequat.

Collectively, the urine and food vulnerability data “may reflect the likely fresh induction of chlormequat into the U.S. food supply due to EPA regulators action changes involving chlormequat, including establishing a limit on chlormequat in food in 2018 and raising these limits for boats in 2020,” according to the study.

Conclusion

This groundbreaking survey sheds light on the possible widespread prediction of chlormequat in the United States food supply, as documented in both urine and food vulnerability analyses. The findings uncover a concerting trend of expanding chlormequat vulnerability over time, with detection frequencies making notably in fresh years.

Chlormequat’s documented toxicological properties, partially its association with reproductive and developmental issues, rise crucial deals about its long-term effects on human health. Moreover, there is presently no monitoring of chlormequat in food products in the United States, leaving consumers vulgar to potent risks.

With the EPA's proposed expansion of chlormequat usage on domestically grown crops, the study's uncovering service as a critical call to action for large transparency in pesticide usage and monitoring, as well as consumer awareness so we can work toward a food supply that safeguards the well-being of the individual.