Saved 50 murderers from the death penalty: found that exposure to toxins on the ground generates violent behavior

On April 21, 1995, Carlos Gutiérrez pleaded guilty to a first degree murder charge. After the sentencing hearing, a panel of three judges concluded that he was aggravating: torture and mental depravation, but also mitigation: he had no criminal record. The aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors and Guitérrez was sentenced to death.

Gutiérrez murdered his 3-year-old daughter-in-law, Mailin. On June 15, 1994, the man came to his home after a day of work to take a shower, every time Gutiérrez took Mailin sucking his thumb, he badped her, she kicked him, bathed him with cold or very hot water, forced him to eat spicy and to vomit, all this for a year, but that day- there she beat him to death.

Gutiérrez and Tara (his mother) wrapped Mailin's body in a blanket, drove near Fillmore, California, and threw him into a ravine., they returned to Reno and then reported that someone had removed Mailin.

The panel specifically concluded that the murder it was not committed while Gutiérrez was under the influence of extreme mental or emotional disorders.

Gutierrez went directly to the death penalty when lawyers and doctors intervened, among which was Andrés Lugo, a toxicologist based on the case of Gutiérrez and 50 other Mexicans sentenced to death in the United States, determined that there was a common factor in these cases of antisocial behavior.

"All had been exposed to a type of neurotoxin in Mexico of the uterus or during his childhood, "he declared exclusively Infobae Mexico, the specialist.

The toxicologist saved the lives of those 50 sentenced to death in the United States.

Dr. Andrés Lugo, holds a Master's degree in Medical Toxicology and Public Health from the University of Texas, He reported that in Mexico the environment is highly polluted due to lack of knowledge about protection against health risks and insufficient control of polluting industries.

"There is a coincidence in all these cases, there is exposure to neurotoxic substances in conditions of poverty, insalubrity, lack of resources, malnutrition and unhealthy housing ", badured the toxicologist.

According to the place of birth of the convict, Lugo has identified 45 regions of Mexico areas where the population is exposed to harmful chemicals such as glyphosate.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in most herbicides used in agriculture and gardening.. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has clbadified this substance as "probably carcinogenic to humans".

These areas are mainly, in the states of high agriculture and industry such as Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Nuevo Leon and Veracruz, although it exists in almost all states.

"Neurotoxins damage the frontal lobes, executive nuclei of the controls, cause DNA mutations in areas of cognitive development allowing socialization and interaction"he precised.

"The damage is greater if it occurs in childhood but is manifested years later in adulthood and becomes impulsive and very violent".

Knowing the housing conditions and the development of all these people, To find out the existence of this type of neurotoxic substances, the toxicologist began to study in more detail the damage they cause in the human brain.

"Toxic substances used in agriculture, mining, metallurgy and the chemical industry reach areas of the brain and affect their functioning", badured Lugo.

He explained that these neurotoxic substances affect the behavior of these people and were widely used in agriculture.Depending on the type of crop, but in addition to agrochemicals, substances such as heavy metals and volatile organic compounds, they have been absorbed in large quantities by the people.

"Many chemical compounds reach brain regions and mutations are formedthis effect develops mainly in the early stages of the child's development or when the woman is pregnant. The child who grows up in a contaminated place begins to undergo mutations that manifest themselves after fifteen, twenty or thirty years with aberrant and criminal behaviors "explained the toxicologist.

"You must first look for the source (s) of environmental pollutants, the exposure, the points or places where people are exposed and the population vulnerable."

"In this case, it is a person born and raised in a region of the State of León, Guanajuato, where there is a large shoe industry, saddlery. "Química México", a very large plant producing highly polluting products, the plant is currently closed but for many years, all chemicals have been dumped in the aquifers, " said the doctor.

"And also during childhood, these people, for example in this case, worked in workshops where he was exposed to cement adhesives to highly neurotoxic products."

"It affected in such a way that it caused the neurological damage that occurred later in his behavior. The types of injuries that occur in the early stages of development can be prevented, when they intervene immediately, they are diagnosed where there is contamination, where there are extremely toxic products and early badessment programs for children and adolescents are put in place to detect behaviors that are starting to be problematic ".

"I think that there is a strong coincidence between high rates of violence and high rates of aggression. We showed a relationship, we have shown in 50 cases, in 70 in total, and we found that there was a correlation between exposure to neurotoxins and behavioral problems, the problems of aggressiveness and impulsivity. "

Last year, Monsanto was fined millions of dollars to compensate people who have suffered or have lymphoma badociated with glyphosate.

"The problem in Mexico right now is that there are agrochemical distributors selling products containing glyphosate, in addition to selling a large number of products that should no longer be on the market, "concluded Andrés Lugo.