CDC Study Found Herbicide Linked to Cancer in Most Urine Samples

Photo credit: Reuters

A common herbicide chemical linked to cancer was detected in the majority of urine samples reviewed by the public health agency, revealed the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study designed to assess the nutritional health of American adults and children.

Released last month, the data from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that more than 80% of urine samples the health agency tested were at or above the detection limit for glyphosate.

According to 2017 data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the agricultural sector in the United States and the second most used in the home and garden market sector.

It is the main ingredient in Monsanto’s popular weedkiller product Roundup and is widely considered to be a carcinogenic chemical since 2015 when the International Agency for Research on Cancer determined that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen.

To get a clearer picture of how prevalent glyphosate is among the general population, the CDC conducted a study on about 2,310 urine samples – about a third of which came from children – collected from people aged 6 years and older in 2013 and 2014.

According to Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), pointed out 87% percent of 650 children tested had detectable levels of the cancer-causing weedkiller they’re regularly exposed to through the food they eat virtually every day.

Temkin stressed that EPA must take concrete regulatory action to protect children’s health by dramatically lowering the levels of glyphosate in the food supply.

EPA, on the hand, sided with pesticide companies in 2020, arguing there is not enough evidence to show glyphosate is a carcinogen, which doesn’t stop thousands of plaintiffs from filing lawsuits against Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, accusing Roundup of causing cancer or non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The US Supreme Court cleared last month the way for thousands of lawsuits against the pesticide company to proceed by rejecting an appeal from Bayer to throw out a lawsuit from a plaintiff accusing Roundup of causing his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

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