In animals examined for the study, Splenda reduced the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50 percent, increased the pH level in the intestines, contributed to increases in body weight and affected P-glycoprotein (P-gp) levels in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected.
Infants and children may be especially sensitive to health risks posed by pesticides for several reasons:
Pesticides may harm a developing child by blocking the absorption of important food nutrients necessary for normal healthy growth. Another way pesticides may cause harm is if a child’s excretory system is not fully developed, the body may not fully remove pesticides. Also, there are “critical periods” in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual’s biological system operates. (source)
The human health impacts linked to pesticide exposure range from birth defects and childhood brain cancer in the very young, to Parkinsons’ Disease in the elderly. In between are a variety of other cancers, developmental and neurological disorders, reproductive and hormonal system disruptions, and more.
Increasing cancer risk, milk from cows injected with genetically modified growth hormone contains “up to ten times the amount of insulin growth factor-1.” The growth factor has been shown to cause breast, prostrate, and colon cancer (Miller). When humans consume this milk, it puts them at risk for these cancers. This is not the only danger to reproductive health. Rats fed genetically modified potatoes grew smaller brains, testicles, and livers, and male rats fed only genetically modified soy had their testicles change from “from the normal pink to dark blue” Source