Business
Published February 15, 2024, 9:24 am ET
Four in five Americans are exposed to a little-known chemical found in popular oat-based foods — including Cheerios and Quaker oats — that has been linked to reduced fertility, altered fetal growth and delayed puberty.
The Environmental Working Group published a study Thursday in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology that found a staggering 80% of Americans tested positive for a harmful pesticide called chlormequat.
According to the EWG, use of the “highly toxic agricultural chemical” is federally permitted on oats and other grains imported into the United States. When used on oat and grain plants, chlormequat alters the growth of a plant, preventing it from buckling and thus making harvesting easier, according to EWG.
According to the Environmental Working Group, four out of five Americans, or about 80%, are exposed to a little-known chemical called chlormequat, which is found in popular oat-based foods, including Cheerios. scandamerican – stock.adobe.com
“Equally concerning, we detected the chemical in 92% of oat-based foods purchased in May 2023, including Quaker Oats and Cheerios,” the nonprofit said in a report released along with the group’s findings.
General Mills, which makes Cheerios, and PepsiCo, which makes Quaker Oats, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Another data point of particular concern: After testing for the presence of chlormequat in urine collected from 96 people between 2017 and 2023, EWG's testing found “higher levels and more frequent detections of chlormequat in the 2023 samples… suggesting that consumers could be exposed to chlormequat.” ascending.”
The EWG warned that chlormequat exposure “could increase,” despite evidence that it affects the reproductive health of animals, impairs fetal development and delays puberty. Klarion – stock.adobe.com
For reference, chlormequat was detected in 69% of study participants in 2017. The number increased slightly to 74% between 2018 and 2022 and rose to 90% in 2023.
Since chlormequat typically leaves the body within 24 hours, such a high concentration of positive tests suggests that Americans are regularly exposed to the pesticide, according to the EWG report previously reported by the Chron.
Although research on chlormequat is ongoing, studies have found that chlormequat has potential effects on animals, which “raises the question of whether it could also harm humans,” the EWG said.
In animal studies, chlormequat has caused damage to the reproductive system and disrupted fetal growth in animals, “altering head and bone development, and altering key metabolic processes.”
The EWG also tested 20 other oat-based foods for chlormequat, as well as seven organic, 13 non-organic and nine wheat-based products, the EWG said, but did not specify which food brands it tested.
Detectable levels of the chemical in question were found in 92% of non-organic oat-based foods, while only two samples of wheat-based foods – both bread – had small amounts of chlormequat.
Only one of the seven organic samples contained small amounts of chlormequat.
The activist group said it would continue studying chlormequat and its harmful effects and demanded answers from the federal government, including whether the Food and Drug Administration should require that U.S. foods be tested for chlormequat.
Because chlormequat typically leaves the body within 24 hours, such a high concentration of positive tests suggests that Americans are regularly exposed to the pesticide, which is also found in Quaker Oats products, the EWG said. Adriana – stock.adobe.com
However, the EWG noted that under President Joe Biden's administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had proposed allowing the first use of chlormequat on U.S.-grown barley, oats, triticale and wheat.
The EWG said it rejects the “dangerous” April 2023 decision – which came in response to a request from chlormequat manufacturer Taminco.
The FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Taminco could not be reached for comment.
Until the government sets parameters for chlormequat and its use, EWG urges consumers to choose organic oat farming without synthetic pesticides like chlormequat if they want to fix their oats.
“EWG's recommendation for shoppers is to purchase organic oat products because these oats are grown without the use of toxic pesticides such as chlormequat and glyphosate,” Olga Naidenko, EWG's vice president of scientific investigations, told The Post.
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