A little-known substance associated with decreased fertility, altered fetal development, and delayed puberty is present in popular oat-based meals like Cheerios and Quaker Oats, and it is being consumed by four out of five Americans. In research released in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, the Environmental Working Group discovered that an astounding 80% of Americans tested positive for the dangerous chemical chlormequat. The EWG claims that the federal government permits the use of the “highly toxic agricultural chemical” on imported grains, including oats.
According to the EWG, using chlormequat for grain and oat crops changes the way a plant grows, preventing it from bending over and making harvesting simpler. In a study released with the group’s results, the foundation claimed, “Just as troubling, we detected the chemical in 92% of oat-based foods purchased in May 2023, including Quaker Oats and Cheerios.” Requests for comment from General Mills, the company that manufactures Cheerios, and PepsiCo, the company that makes Quaker Oats, were not immediately answered.
An additional particularly alarming finding is that the EWG’s tests “found higher levels and more frequent detections of chlormequat in the 2023 samples… which suggests consumer exposure to chlormequat could be on the rise” after analyzing 96 participants’ urine samples taken between 2017 and 2023 for the presence of the chemical.
To put this in perspective, 69% of research participants in 2017 had chlormequat identified. From 2018 and 2022, the percentage increased slightly to 74%, and in 2023, it reached a peak of 90%. According to an EWG analysis that was previously covered by the Daily Mail, a high proportion of positive tests suggests that Americans are routinely exposed to chlormequat, which normally departs the body in 24 hours. The EWG stated that although studies on chlormequat are still being conducted, their potential impacts on animals have been demonstrated, which “raises questions about whether it could also harm humans.”
Chlormequat Found In Cheerios Have Led To Body Deformity In Animals, Shows Study
Chlormequat has been shown in animal experiments to cause reproductive system harm, disrupt embryonic growth, and “change development of the head and bones and alter key metabolic processes.” Only two samples of wheat-based foods, both of which were bread, had low levels of chlormequat, compared to 92% of non-organic oat-based meals that had detectable quantities of the relevant chemical.
Of the seven organic samples, only one exhibited low chlormequat levels. The advocacy organization claimed that it would keep researching the negative consequences of chlormequat and demanded answers from the federal government, including whether the Food and Drug Administration needs to require that foods in the United States be tested for the chemical. When customers crave oatmeal, the EWG advises them to choose organic oats grown without synthetic pesticides like chlormequat until the government places restrictions on its usage.
Olga Naidenko, vice president of science investigations at EWG, told The Post, “EWG recommends shoppers buy organic oat products since these oats are grown without the use of toxic pesticides like chlormequat and glyphosate.” These results imply that Americans are routinely exposed to chlormequat, as the chemical normally exits the body after 24 hours, the paper states. Twenty more oat-based goods were tested by EWG for chlormequat: seven were organic, thirteen were nonorganic, and nine were made of wheat. The brands of the items the EWG examined were not disclosed.
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