The US uses massive amounts of the pesticide glyphosate (commonly known as Roundup) on farms, the sides of roads, and even by homeowners on their properties. More than 127,000 tons of this weed-killer (herbicide) is used just on US farm fields! But studies, including this recent study, find that glyphosate is also linked to health harms, including lower weights and earlier birth of babies.
The recent research found that increased glyphosate applications on farm fields in the last two decades (especially due to genetically modified crops and preharvest use) has especially impacted pregnancies and babies born in rural areas of the United States. That is, pregnant women in farm areas are the most impacted by glyphosate - it's not just used on the fields nearby (they get exposed from pesticide drift), but also in the non-organic foods that they eat. Lower birthweights are generally considered a predictor of health problems (and higher health care costs).
Evidence for health harms from glyphosate are increasing each year, such as an increased risk of cancer (e.g., non-Hodgkin lymphoma), premature births, endocrine disruption, and even disruptions of the gut microbiome (it kills beneficial microbes in the gut, including such important keystone bacteria as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii.) The percentage of people with glyphosate detected in their urine, and the amount (concentration) has been rising over time. It can now be detected in almost all of us, including children.
By the way, the US allows much higher levels of glyphosate residue on foods than countries in other parts of the world, including Europe. But in Brazil it's even worse with levels much higher than in the US, and with higher rates of childhood cancer and infant mortality.
Organic food production does not allow the use of glyphosate. To lower glyphosate levels in your body - increase the amount of organic foods that you eat.
Excerpts from Science: Common weed killer may be harming infants
Babies in rural counties of the United States that use a common weed killer are born slightly earlier and underweight, a large study finds. These changes, although small on average, could result in learning disabilities and an increased risk of infection, researchers reported last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, resulting in more than $1 billion in health care costs nationwide each year.
More than 127,000 tons of glyphosate are sprayed on U.S. fields each year, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulatory agencies say it is safe to use with proper precautions. But some research suggests glyphosate can disrupt reproductive hormones in laboratory animals. In people, a small study in 2018 linked glyphosate exposure to slightly shorter pregnancy.
Edward Rubin, an environmental economist at the University of Oregon, and graduate student Emmett Reynier decided to take a broad look at the effect of glyphosate. With the introduction of soybeans genetically modified to tolerate glyphosate in 1996, farmers could spray the weed killer without harming their crops. This allowed cheap and easy control of all kinds of weeds without plowing, which erodes soil. Over the next few years, glyphosate-tolerant corn and cotton plants also came to dominate U.S. farmland.
To look for effects on infants, Rubin and Reynier analyzed data on gestation time and birthweight of more than 10 million babies born between 1990 and 2013 in rural counties. They compared the birth data with estimated amounts of glyphosate and other agrochemicals sprayed per square kilometer in the counties, published by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Low birthweight is an important predictor of health problems, such as delayed cognitive development, and raises the risk of infection and noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Between 1990 and 1996, there was no difference in birthweight or pregnancy length between counties, the team found. After biotech crops came onto the market, however, birthweight began to drop in counties where more biotech crops are grown and sprayed with glyphosate. By 2005, babies born in counties dominated by biotech corn, soy, and cotton weighed on average about 30 grams less than those born in rural counties that mostly grow other kinds of crops on which glyphosate is not used. Babies were also born 1.5 days sooner in places where glyphosate was common.
The amount of data allowed the scientists to rule out the possibility that changes in other herbicides and agrochemicals were at work. They also considered other possible influences on infant birthweight, such as the impact of unemployment.
Rubin and Reynier also estimated the lifelong health costs of premature birth, including postnatal care, special education, and lower earnings as adults. The overall health costs from the average 0.6% decrease in gestation time associated with glyphosate exposure amount to about $1.1 billion annually. That estimate is “really novel and useful,” says Carly Hyland, an environmental health scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.
A few studies have found more severe harm in other countries. Two papers published in 2023 found higher rates of infant mortality and childhood cancer in farming areas in Brazil, where glyphosate application rates are twice as high as in the US.
Nevertheless the new results should concern regulators, Goldman says. “EPA definitely needs to look at this.” The safety of approved pesticides must be reevaluated every 15 years; EPA has delayed its review of glyphosate and now expects to complete it next year. President Donald Trump’s administration could push the review further back, however.