Drug Resistance
New study links common herbicides and antibiotic resistance (University of Canterbury,October 12, 2018) 'A new study finds that bacteria develop antibiotic resistance up to 100,000 times faster when exposed to the world's most widely used herbicides, Roundup (glyphosate) and Kamba (dicamba) and antibiotics compared to without the herbicide.' Also filed under fact sheet/glyphosate see also Roundup, Other Herbicides Advance Antibiotic Resistance (Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2018)
Common Herbicides Linked to Antibiotic Resistance (Beyond Pesticides, March 30, 2015) A new study published in the American Society of Microbiology’s journal, mBio, links glyphosate, 2,4-D and dicamba to antibiotic resistance after testing the sub-lethal effects of these pesticides in certain bacteria. The new mBio study finds that when bacteria, specifically Salmonella and E. coli, are exposed to the herbicides described above, they responded differently to the common antibiotics ampicillin,ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, and tetracycline. Researchers replicated real-world scenarios by purchasing weed killers from a local store and using the exact levels that are specified on the product label...Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria can develop in agricultural fields and then travel freely through the environment, transferring from one bacterial species to another. This “horizontal gene transfer” means that a pool of resistant soil bacteria can then transfer the genetic material for resistance in human pathogens
Pesticides Linked to Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections in Humans (Beyond Pesticides, July 29, 2014) The rise of cross-resistant fungi is a serious concern for sensitive individuals with weakened immune systems, such as transplant patients, asthmatics, and those with leukemia.