The Evidence of Human Exposure to Glyphosate: A Review

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gillezeau C ; Rana I ; Shaffer RM ; Sheppard L ; Taioli E ; van Gerwen M ; Zhang L
• Description:
  Background: Despite the growing and widespread use of glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide and desiccant, very few studies have evaluated the extent and amount of human exposure. Objective: We review documented levels of human exposure among workers in occupational settings and the general population. Methods: We conducted a review of scientific publications on glyphosate levels in humans; 19 studies were identified, of which five investigated occupational exposure to glyphosate, 11 documented the exposure in general populations, and three reported on both. Results: Eight studies reported urinary levels in 423 occupationally and para-occupationally exposed subjects; 14 studies reported glyphosate levels in various biofluids on 3298 subjects from the general population. Average urinary levels in occupationally exposed subjects varied from 0.26 to 73.5 ug/L; environmental exposure urinary levels ranged from 0.16 to 7.6 ug/L. Only two studies measured temporal trends in exposure, both of which show increasing proportions of individuals with detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine over time. Conclusions: The current review highlights the paucity of data on glyphosate levels among individuals exposed occupationally, para-occupationally, or environmentally to the herbicide. As such, it is challenging to fully understand the extent of exposure overall and in vulnerable populations such as children. We recommend further work to evaluate exposure across populations and geographic regions, apportion the exposure sources (e.g., occupational, household use, food residues), and understand temporal trends. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Environmental Exposure Herbicides Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Chemicals Author Keywords: Glyphosate Biological Monitoring Environmental Carcinogens Environmental Exposure Exposure Assessment Human Biomonitoring Occupational Exposure Round-up
• ISSN:
  1476-069X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New York ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2
• Volume:
  18
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055177
• Citation:
  Environ Health 2019 Jan; 18:2
• Contact Point Address:
  Emanuela Taioli, Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1133, New York, NY 10029, USA
• Email:
  emanuela.taioli@mountsinai.org
• CAS Registry Number:
  Glyphosate (CAS RN 1071-83-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e167e2e47ed71158991f30a431697a071a02eea62d54cb264b6373664e3e72c02707a27f97d58f7263343c17e8176a957174ed78fd599ac0e1005be7aca3ae6f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217537/cdc_217537_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.06 MB ]