48: The Dangers(???) of Glyphosate

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok or Instagram, there is no doubt you’ve heard about the “dangers of glyphosate”. This message has only increased since the introduction of MAHA and RFK Jr. A group of people who continuously spread misleading and false claims about nutrition, food science, vaccines, COVID-19, climate change, pharmaceutical industry, gun violence, and more. The MAHA group is convinced that glyphosate in our food is one of the leading causes of poor health outcomes in America. Meanwhile, there is a large body of research, including both human and animal subjects, showing no evidence of this risk. This group also forgets to address and acknowledge the social determinants of health and how oppressive systems impact a person’s overall health, but that’s for another post. Let’s talk about the facts.    Sources: Williams, G. M.; Kroes, R.; Munro, I. C. Safety evaluation and risk assessment of the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, for humans. Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 2000, 31, 117-165. Stout, L.; Ruecker, F. Chronic study of glyphosate administered in feed to albino rats. Unpublished Report no. MSL-10495 R.D. 1014, 1990, submitted to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Monsanto Agricultural Company. Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) Glyphosate; EPA-738-F-93-011; U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticide Programs, U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1993. Atkinson, C.; Strutt, A.V.; Henderson, W.; Finch, J.; Hudson, P. Glyphosate: 104 week combined chronic feeding/oncogenicity study in rats with 52 week interim kill (results after 104 weeks). Unpublished report No. 7867, IRI project no. 438623, 1993, submitted to World Health Organization by Cheminova A/S, Lemvig, Denmark, prepared by Inveresk Research International, Tranent, Scotland. Pesticide Residues in Food - 2004: Toxicological evaluations; International Programme on Chemical Safety, World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland, 2004. Roberts, T. R. Metabolic Pathways of Agrochemicals-Part 1: Herbicides and Plant Growth Regulators; The Royal Society of Chemistry: Cambridge, UK, 1998; pp 396-399. Davoren M.J., Schiestl R.H. Glyphosate-based herbicides and cancer risk: A post-IARC decision review of potential mechanisms, policy and avenues of research. Carcinogenesis. 2018;39:1207–1215. Williams G.M., Kroes R., Munro I.C. Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, for Humans. Regul. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 2000;31:117–165. Benbrook C.M. Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally. Environ. Sci. Eur. 2016;28:1–15. Bai S.H., Ogbourne S.M. Glyphosate: Environmental contamination, toxicity and potential risks to human health via food contamination. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2016;23:18988–19001.