CDC study finds glyphosate, controversial ingredient found in weedkillers including popular Roundup brand, present in samples More than 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer, a finding scientists have called “disturbing” and “concerning”. The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples, taken from a group of Americans intended to be representative of the US population, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate. This is the active ingredient in herbicides sold around the world, including the widely used Roundup brand. Almost a third of the participants were children ranging from six to 18. Academics and private researchers have been noting high levels of the herbicide glyphosate in analyses of human urine samples for years. But the CDC has only recently started examining the extent of human exposure to glyphosate in the US, and its work comes at a time of mounting concerns and controversy over how pesticides in food and water impact human and environmental health. “I expect that the realization that most of us have glyphosate in our urine will be disturbing to many people,” said Lianne Sheppard, professor at the University of Washington’s department of environmental and occupational health sciences. Thanks to the new research, “we know that a large fraction of the population has it in urine. Many people will be thinking about whether that includes them.” Sheppard co-authored a 2019 analysis that found glyphosate exposure increases the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and also co-authored a 2019 scientific paper that reviewed 19 studies documenting glyphosate in human urine. Both the amount and prevalence of glyphosate found in human urine has been rising steadily since the 1990s when Monsanto Co. introduced genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with Roundup, according to research published in 2017 by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers. Paul Mills, the lead researcher of that study, said at the time there was “an urgent need” for a thorough examination of the impact on human health from glyphosate in foods people commonly consume. More than 200 million pounds of glyphosate are used annually by US farmers on their fields. The weedkiller is sprayed directly over genetically engineered crops such as corn and soybeans, and also over non-genetically engineered crops such as wheat and oats as a desiccant to dry crops out prior to harvest. Many farmers also use it on fields before the growing season, including spinach growers and almond producers. It is considered the most widely used herbicide in history. Residues of glyphosate have been documented in an array of popular foods made with crops sprayed with glyphosate, including baby food. The primary route of exposure for children is through the diet. Monsanto and the company that bought it in 2018, Bayer, have maintained that glyphosate and Roundup products are safe, and that residues in food and in human urine are not a health risk. They are at odds with many researchers and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a unit of the World Health Organization, which classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken the opposite stance, classifying glyphosate as not likely to be carcinogenic. But last month a federal appeals court issued an opinion vacating the agency’s safety determination and ordering the agency to give “further consideration” to evidence of glyphosate risks. “People of all ages should be concerned, but I’m particularly concerned for children,” said Phil Landrigan, who worked for years at the CDC and the EPA and now directs the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College. “Children are more heavily exposed to pesticides than adults because pound-for-pound they drink more water, eat more food and breathe more air,” Landrigan said. “Also, children have many years of future life when they can develop diseases with long incubation periods such as cancer. This is particularly a concern with the herbicide, glyphosate.” The new CDC data was released as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), research that is typically highly valued by scientists. Cynthia Curl, Boise State University assistant professor of community and environmental health, said it was “obviously concerning” that a large percentage of the US population is exposed to glyphosate, but said it is still unclear how that translates to human health. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/09/weedkiller-glyphosate-cdc-study-urine-samples
Vinegar, dish detergent and Epsom salts. Spray on weeds at ground level. Kills weeds and then breaks down. No harm to animals or water supply.
My father died of blood cancer that his doctor said was probably caused by the practice of crop dusting with pesticides in the early 60s....my family took our inheritance money from his will and hired a lawyer to sue Dow chemical over it and couldn't afford to go toe to toe with them in court. Since then I've never put Round up or any poisons on my soil or the foundation of my house....my son however loves Round up...it's something I keep on him about but he still uses it.
I always use the non-toxic stuff that is supposed to be pet safe. With kids and pets around, it isn't worth it to take the risks that they'll get into the roundups of the world.
Two quarts vinegar, a good squirt detergent and a tablespoon Epsom. Shake well an use spray bottle. Don't store in spray bottle because the acid will disintegrate the sprayer. I pull up weeds I can get to and spray cracks. It's not like Round Up, it isn't immediate but a couple if applications will kill weeds.
Concentrated vinegar (not the grocery store stuff) by itself will kill damn near anything you spray it on, including stray children. It's magic. Vastly more effective than roundup. barfo
There’s an exhibit in the Smithsonian which is dedicated to banned pesticides due to our finding out that they can cause harm to us. The list will just continue because it’s still poison today.
Concentrated vinegar, aka acetic acid, is not readily available. Regular vinegar kills weeds but runs off. The soap and Epsom help it stick to the plant you want to kill. All are cheap, break down, nontoxic to animals.
I never use Roundup. I prefer White Ammonia, slightly diluted, with a few drops of dishwashing liquid, spread through a quality sprayer.
All you need is a quality two gallon sprayer. I'm in that club and ,,,,,,,,,,, I like great cookies too.
My friend~You have to surprise him with a new two gallon sprayer with diluted White Vinegar and a few drops of dishwashing detergent added. How could he resist your present, knowing of his grandfathers fate?.
I'm not sure about the vinegar, but if you put dish soap on your weed won't that make bubbles in your bong?
