The U.S. researchers found a relationship between soy production and related community exposure to agrochemicals including glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller that some genetically modified soybean seeds are designed to tolerate. "We find a statistically significant increase in pediatric leukemia following expanded local soy production," the PNAS article said, based on Brazilian childhood cancer incidence and disease mortality data spanning 15 years. Specifically, the study found a correlation between soy farming and childhood blood cancers, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common blood cancer in children. There were 123 additional deaths of children under age 10 from 2008 to 2019 from ALL following the expansion of soybean production in Brazil, the researchers found. That number would have been higher were it not for the country's high-quality cancer treatment centers, the researchers said.

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Persons: Adriano Machado, Ana Mano, Nancy Lapid, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, SAO PAULO, U.S . National Academy of Sciences, Thomson Locations: Luziania, Goias, Brazil, U.S, China, United States