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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0393.071 2012-2014 Testimony for GMO Hearing before the Hawai'i County Council October 1, 2013 by Renee Dufault, Executive Director, D.HEd. (Candidate) Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute, Hawai'i Thank you for your kind invitation to speak before you on the nutritional implications of GMO and glyphosate exposure. My name is Renee Dufault and I am a retired United States Public Health Service (PHS) officer living here on the Big Island. I currently serve as the Executive Director of the Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute. We have published a few articles on the mechanisms involved in the development of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from mercury exposure and/or the consumption of high fructose corn syrup (Dufault et al., 2009, 2012) which is derived from genetically modified corn. Table 1 shows the population growth in Hawai'i grew at a rate of 5.2% from 2005-2010. Table 2 shows that during the same period of time, children in llasv ali receiving special education services under the learning disability categories of autism, developmental delay and other health impaired increased at the respective rates of 31.2%, 14.7% and 6.6%. Children with ADHD are often provided special education services under the other health impaired category and children with developmental delay are often also diagnosed with autism. Developmental delay is a sub- category of autism. These alarming increases in the number of children in Hawai'i receiving special education services are occurring at a time when special education services in Hawai'i have declined 11.4%. Clearly these figures suggest that nutrition related learning disorders must be addressed by policies designed to improve the food supply. The proposed GMO ordinance is such a policy. There are many direct and indirect mechanisms that contribute to the development of these learning disabilities. In addition to the already published mechanisms involving the consumption of high fructose corn syrup, another contributor could be the use of glyphosate on genetically modified glyphosate tolerant crops such as GMO corn or soybeans. Glyphosate residues are commonly found on crops after treatment and in food products made from these crops (McQueen, Callan, & Hinwood, 2012). Exposures to glyphosate have been documented in American fathers, mothers, and children living in both farm and non-farm households (Curwin et al., 2007). To combat the harmful effects of glyphosate exposure, the body must have ample supplies of glutathione (Larsen,Najle, Lifschitz, &Virkel, 2012). Children with autism or ADHD will have trouble metabolizing the glyphosate residues found on glyphosate tolerant crops because they have lower glutathione levels compared to healthy children (Gu, Chauhan, & Chauhan, 2013, Ceylan, Sener, Bayraktar, & Kavutcu, 2012). Consumption of high fructose corn syrup has been shown to increase glycation end products which results in further reductions in glutathione (Seneff, Wainwright, & Mascitelli, 2011, Bousova, Pruchova, Trnkova, & Drsata, 2011). A negative feedback loop is thus created to create yet one more mechanism for the development of autism and ADHD. Comm.rye, 393 . 7/ Ref.To: /°/eovflci/ AA Date UCT 15 Z013 , With the continued increases in autism and ADHD in Hawai'i, it is imperative steps be taken to clean up the food supply. The proposed GMO ordinance will promote a healthier food supply on the Big Island of Hawai'i. Table 1: Percent population growth in Hawai'i during five year periods Hawai'i 5-year Periods Numerator Denominator Rate 1960-65 62,300 641,500 9.7 % 1965-70 67,800 703,800 9.6 % 1970-75 114,600 771,600 14.9 % 1975-80 78,491 886,200 8.9 % 1980-85 75,007 964,691 7.8 % 1985-90 68,531 1,039,698 6.6 % 1990-95 88,625 1,108,229 8.0 % 1995-00 14,625 1,196,854 1.2 % 2000-05 54,551 1,211,566 4.5 % 2005-10 66,783 1,266,117 4.3 ' Source: Hawai'i State Department of Business, Economic Development& Tourism. Table 2: Percent learning disability growth in Hawai'i during five year period 2005-2010 2005-2010 Numerator Denominator Rate Autism 253 811 1! Developmental Delay 150 1,017 11) I4.-% Other Health 165 2,483 l p 6.6% Impaired (ADHD) Total number of -2,222 19,540 Down 11.4% children receiving special education services in Hawai'i Data derived from the Data Accountability Center: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Data. [http://www.ideadata.org/PartBData.asp] References Bousova, I, Pruchova, Z, Trnkova, L., & Drsata, J. (2011). Comparison of glycation of glutathione S-transferase by methylglyoxal, glucose, or fructose. Molecular & Cellular Biochemistry, 357, 1-2, 323-330. Ceylan, M.F., Sener, S., Bayraktar, A.C., & Kavutcu, M. (2012). Changes in oxidative stress and cellular immunity serum markers in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychiatry & Clinical Neurosciences, 66(3), 220-226. Curwin, B.D., Hein, M.J., Sanderson, W.T., Striley, C., Heederik, D., Kromhout, H., Reynolds, S.J., & Alavanja, M.C. (2007). Urinary pesticide concentrations among children, mothers, and fathers living in farms and non-farm households in iowa.Annuals of Occupational Hygiene, 51(1), 53-65. Dufault, R., Lukiw, W.J., Crider, R., Schnoll, R., Wallinga, D. & Deth, R. (2012). A macroepigenetic approach to identify factors responsible for the autism epidemic in the United States. Clinical Epigenetics, 4:6. http://www.clinicalepigeneticsjournal.com/content/4/1/6 Dufault, R., Schnoll, R., Lukiw, W.J., LeBlanc, B., Cornett, C., Patrick, L., Wallinga, D., Gilbert, S.G., Crider, R. (2009). Mercury exposure, nutritional deficiencies and metabolic disruptions may affect learning in children. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 5:44. http://w ww.behaviora landbrainfunctions.conl!content/5/1/44 Dufault, R., LeBlanc, B., Schnoll, R., Cornett, C., Schweitzer, L., Wallinga, D., Hightower, J., Patrick, L., Lukiw, W.J. (2009). Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar. Environmental Health, 8:2. http://www.ehjournal.net/content/8/1/2 Gu, F., Chauhan, V., & Chauhan, A. (2013). Impaired synthesis and antioxidant defense of glutathione in the cerebellum of autistic subjects: alterations in the activities and protein expression of glutathione-related enzymes. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 65C. 488-496. Larsen, K., Najle, R., Lifschitz, A., & Virkel, G. (2012). Effects of sub-lethal exposure of rats to the herbicide glyphosate in drinking water: glutathione transferase enzyme activities, levels of reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation in liver, kidneys, and small intestine. Environmental Toxicology & Pharmacology, 34(3), 811-818. McQueen, H., Callan, A.C., & Hinwood, A.L. (2012). Estimating maternal and prenatal exposure to glyphosate in the community setting. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 215(6), 570-576. Seneff, S., Wainwright, G., & Mascitelli, L. (2011). Is the metabolic syndrome caused by high fructose, and relatively low fat, low cholesterol diet?Archives of Medical Science, 7(1), 8-20.