Excretion of Heavy Metals and Glyphosate in Urine and Hair Before and After Long-Term Fasting in Humans

Franziska Grundler; Gilles-Eric Séralini; Robin Mesnage; Vincent Peynet; Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.708069

Excretion of Heavy Metals and Glyphosate in Urine and Hair Before and After Long-Term Fasting in Humans

Front Nutr. 2021 Sep 28:8:708069. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.708069. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Franziska Grundler^{1

2}, Gilles-Eric Séralini³, Robin Mesnage⁴, Vincent Peynet⁵, Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo¹

Affiliations

¹ Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinic, Überlingen, Germany.
² Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
³ Department of Biology and Network on Risks, Quality and Sustainable Environment MRSH, University of Caen Normandy, Caen, France.
⁴ Gene Expression and Therapy Group, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, King's College London, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Institut de Recherche et d'Expertise Scientifique, Europarc, Strasbourg, France.

Abstract

Background: Dietary exposure to environmental pollutants in humans is an important public health concern. While long-term fasting interrupts the dietary exposure to these substances, fat mobilization as an energy source may also release bioaccumulated substances. This was, to our knowledge, only investigated in obese people decades ago. This study explored the effects of 10-days fasting on the excretion of heavy metals and glyphosate. Methods: Urinary levels of arsenic, chromium, cobalt, lead, nickel, mercury and glyphosate were measured before and after 10 fasting days in 109 healthy subjects. Additionally, hair analysis was done before and ten weeks after fasting in 22 subjects. Results: Fasting caused a decrease in body weight, and in urinary arsenic (by 72%) and nickel (by 15%) concentrations. A decrease in lead hair concentrations (by 30%) was documented. Urinary mercury levels were unchanged for chromium, cobalt and glyphosate, which were undetectable in most of the subjects. Additionally, fatigue, sleep disorders, headache and hunger were reduced. Body discomfort symptoms diminished four weeks after food reintroduction. Conclusions: The results of this study provide the first insights into the changes in heavy metal excretion caused by long-term fasting. Further studies focusing on the kinetics of efflux between different compartments of the body are needed. Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00016657, identifier: DRKS00016657.

Keywords: Buchinger Wilhelmi fasting; arsenic; biomonitoring; glyphosate; lead; nickel; weight loss.