'How glyphosate works' was the theme addressed by American Professor Emeritus of Plant Pathology Don Huber, Purdue University, Indiana, when he spoke to an eager audience of farmers and consumers at Wodonga last October.
The Wodonga event was the first in a tour that took him to lecture and in field workshops with audiences also in the Queensland towns of Toowoomba, Kingaroy and Gympie, with the intention of making this information available for consumers and producers to make informed management decisions.
A retired US Army Colonel who specialized in medical intelligence, Professor Huber has a long career, having spent 55 years in research and teaching on plant pathology with special emphasis on the ecology of soilborne pathogens, host-parasite interactions and nutrient-disease interactions.
He is noted as a world expert on the effects of glyphosate and opened his science-based delivery to the 150 people gathered with a quote from the author of "The 7 habits of highly effective people", Stephen R Covey: "Many people listen with intent to respond, not to understand".
Glyphosate is a powerful chelator to immobilize most positively charged essential mineral nutrients needed by beneficial microbes, plants animals and in our metabolism such as calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, cobalt and nickel, according to Professor Huber.
"These essential mineral nutrients are then not available and result in reduced nutrient density of our food and impaired physiological functioning," he said.
"In addition to tying up essential mineral nutrients, glyphosate also is a powerful (and patented) antibiotic against the beneficial microbes in the soil and our guts that are responsible for nutrient mineralisation, plant availability, uptake, physiological function and disease suppression.
"In the absence of these organisms in the soil and animal's GI system, pathogens which are tolerant/resistant to glyphosate take over to cause severe diseases. Glyphosate's antibiotic effect disrupts the soil, crop, animal and human microbiomes to cause serious maladies that threaten agricultural sustainability and human health."
With recent media attention to the affect of glyphosate on humans, Professor Huber said the product is highly water soluble and it accumulates in the brain, bones and marrow, liver, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, heart, and most other body tissues to tie-up minerals and disrupt physiological functions.
"It is a known carcinogen, endocrine hormone disrupter, mineral chelator to immobilize essential nutrients, and powerful antibiotic that causes gut dysbiosis involved with malignant lymphomas, inflammatory bowel diseases, end-stage kidney failure, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, immune function, diabetes, autism, Parkinson's disease brain chemistry and other disease conditions reaching epidemic proportions in humans regardless of its source," he said.
"Glyphosate as a broad spectrum antibiotic induces resistance to other antibiotics in pathogenic microbes like Clostridium, E. coli, Salmonella, etc. to induce life or death situations and MRSA responses."
Glyphosate is a unique compound which immobilizes essential mineral nutrients so they are not available for growth or physiological function, Professor Huber told his audience.
"It is also toxic (antibiotic) to microbes needed to make nutrients available and facilitate their uptake and activity," he said.
"This includes its antibiotic activity against mycorrhizae that facilitate uptake of phosphorus, manganese and zinc as well as the many organisms involved in biological nutrient cycles in soil and our gut microbiomes."
The long-term effect on the soil and crops regarding residue in soil and nutrient density of food by the use of glyphosate is one which concerns many producers and consumers and Professor Huber pointed out it is a synthetic amino acid that is often difficult to degrade, so it can accumulate and persist for many years in soil, crops and our bodies.
"It has a reported half-life in soil as long as 22 years", he said.
"Under certain conditions the accumulated glyphosate can then be desorbed from soil particles to become an active mineral chelator, antibiotic, and herbicide years after its initial application.
"The damage to property will depend on soil type, microbial ecology, resistant weeds developing, and amount of residual glyphosate."
Profeesor Huber noted recent research indicates it may be possible to hasten its degradation with certain microbes such as acetobacter, found in raw sourkraut juice, raw apple cider vinegar, or worm juice.
"Detoxification from animals and humans also may be possible if glyphosate is not reintroduced through food, water or direct exposure from treated soil," he said.