The evidence of human exposure to glyphosate: a review

Gillezeau, Christina; Gerwen, Maaike van; Shaffer, Rachel M.; Rana, Iemaan; Zhang, Luoping; Sheppard, Lianne; Taioli, Emanuela

doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0435-5

Cited by 264 publications

(161 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…During occupational exposure, GLY enters the human circulation mainly through the respiratory tract, but only ≤2% of the sediment on the skin enters the internal circulation [33]. A review by Gillezeau et al [34] documented levels of human exposure to GLY among workers in occupational settings and the general population. Urinary GLY concentrations were assessed in 423 people who were occupationally and para-occupationally exposed from eight studied reports, as well as 3298 general subjects' biological samples from 14 research reports.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentration Distribution and Analysis of Urinary Glyphosate and Its Metabolites in Occupationally Exposed Workers in Eastern China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Background: There are few published studies concerning occupational exposure to glyphosate (GLY), and these are limited to spraying, horticulture and other agricultural aspects. Therefore, the concentration of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in the urine of workers exposed to glyphosate during glyphosate production was determined, and the relationship between internal (urinary glyphosate and AMPA concentration) and external exposure dose (time weighted average (TWA) value of glyphosate in the air of workplace) was analyzed. Methods: To avoid the influence of preparations, we selected people who were only involved in GLY production (without exposure to its preparations) as our research subjects. We collected 134 urine samples of workers exposed to GLY (prototype, not preparation). The urinary concentrations of GLY and AMPA (internal exposure dose) were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The subjects’ exposure to the amount of GLY in the air (external dose) was determined using ion chromatography. Conventional statistical methods, including quartiles, t-tests and regression analysis, were applied for data processing. Results: An on-site investigation revealed that the workers involved in centrifugation, crystallization, drying, and packaging and feeding were exposed to GLY. The TWA value of GLY in the workshop air was <0.02 mg/m3–34.58 mg/m3. The detection rates of GLY and AMPA in the urine samples were 86.6% and 81.3%, respectively. The concentration of urinary GLY was <0.020–17.202 mg/L (median, 0.292 mg/L). The urinary AMPA concentration was <0.010 mg/L–2.730 mg/L (median, 0.068 mg/L). The geometric means were 0.262 mg/L and 0.072 mg/L for GLY and AMPA, respectively. There was a correlation between the urinary concentration of GLY and AMPA and the TWA value of exposed workers (correlation coefficient [r] = 0.914 and 0.683, respectively; p < 0.01). Furthermore, there was a correlation between the urinary concentration of GLY and AMPA in the exposure group (r = 0.736, p < 0.01). Conclusions: The urinary concentration of GLY and AMPA of workers was correlated with the TWA value of workers’ exposure, which could reflect the actual exposure of the workers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentration Distribution and Analysis of Urinary Glyphosate and Its Metabolites in Occupationally Exposed Workers in Eastern China

Zhang

Liu

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…Glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA can be found in soils, water, plants, food, and animals (Alferness and Iwata 2002;Caloni et al 2016;El-Gendy et al 2018). Glyphosate is detected in human urine, blood, and maternal milk, with urinary levels of 0.26-73.5 lg/L in exposed workers and 0.16-7.6 lg/L in the general population (Acquavella et al 2004;Gillezeau et al 2019). Glyphosate most likely enters the body via the dermal, oral and pulmonary routes (Martinez et al 1990;Williams et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact and toxicity of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on health and immunity

Peillex

Pelletier

2020

Journal of Immunotoxicology

189

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Glyphosate, or N-phosphomethyl(glycine), is an organophosphorus compound and a competitive inhibitor of the shikimate pathway that allows aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in plants and microorganisms. Its utilization in broad-spectrum herbicides, such as RoundUp V R , has continued to increase since 1974; glyphosate, as well as its primary metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid, is measured in soils, water, plants, animals and food. In humans, glyphosate is detected in blood and urine, especially in exposed workers, and is excreted within a few days. It has long been regarded as harmless in animals, but growing literature has reported health risks associated with glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides. In 2017, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic" in humans. However, other national agencies did not tighten their glyphosate restrictions and even prolonged authorizations of its use. There are also discrepancies between countries' authorized levels, demonstrating an absence of a clear consensus on glyphosate to date. This review details the effects of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on fish and mammal health, focusing on the immune system. Increasing evidence shows that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides exhibit cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, increase oxidative stress, disrupt the estrogen pathway, impair some cerebral functions, and allegedly correlate with some cancers. Glyphosate effects on the immune system appear to alter the complement cascade, phagocytic function, and lymphocyte responses, and increase the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in fish. In mammals, including humans, glyphosate mainly has cytotoxic and genotoxic effects, causes inflammation, and affects lymphocyte functions and the interactions between microorganisms and the immune system. Importantly, even as many outcomes are still being debated, evidence points to a need for more studies to better decipher the risks from glyphosate and better regulation of its global utilization.

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“…Valid data on the extent of human exposure to glyphosate in the general population are essential for scientifically substantiated risk assessments. Human exposure can be monitored by measuring the urinary levels of glyphosate and AMPA, although the available data sets are very limited in number (Gillezeau et al 2019). EFSA reported that published glyphosate levels in human urine samples resulting from dietary intake of glyphosate represented 0.1-0.66% of the ADI, while the maximum levels of AMPA in human urine samples were estimated to remain below 0.1% of the ADI (EFSA 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The maximum values were 2.80 µg glyphosate/L and 1.88 µg AMPA/L, both of them measured in samples from 2013. With regard to studies from additional countries dealing with human exposure to glyphosate, we refer to the current review of Gillezeau et al (2019). This review listed three studies investigating the association between glyphosate/AMPA exposure and food consumption or dietary pattern in the general population (no occupational exposure) (Knudsen et al 2017;McGuire et al 2016;Parvez et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glyphosate and AMPA levels in human urine samples and their correlation with food consumption: results of the cross-sectional KarMeN study in Germany

et al. 2020

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Glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]-glycine) is the most widely used herbicide worldwide. Due to health concerns about glyphosate exposure, its continued use is controversially discussed. Biomonitoring is an important tool in safety evaluation and this study aimed to determine exposure to glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA, in association with food consumption data, in participants of the cross-sectional KarMeN study (Germany). Glyphosate and AMPA levels were measured in 24-h urine samples from study participants (n = 301). For safety evaluation, the intake of glyphosate and AMPA was calculated based on urinary concentrations and checked against the EU acceptable daily intake (ADI) value for glyphosate. Urinary excretion of glyphosate and/or AMPA was correlated with food consumption data. 8.3% of the participants (n = 25) exhibited quantifiable concentrations (> 0.2 µg/L) of glyphosate and/or AMPA in their urine. In 66.5% of the samples, neither glyphosate (< 0.05 µg/L) nor AMPA (< 0.09 µg/L) was detected. The remaining subjects (n = 76) showed traces of glyphosate and/or AMPA. The calculated glyphosate and/or AMPA intake was far below the ADI of glyphosate. Significant, positive associations between urinary glyphosate excretion and consumption of pulses, or urinary AMPA excretion and mushroom intake were observed. Despite the widespread use of glyphosate, the exposure of the KarMeN population to glyphosate and AMPA was found to be very low. Based on the current risk assessment of glyphosate by EFSA, such exposure levels are not expected to pose any risk to human health. The detected associations with consuming certain foods are in line with reports on glyphosate and AMPA residues in food.

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The evidence of human exposure to glyphosate: a review

Cited by 264 publications

References 27 publications

Concentration Distribution and Analysis of Urinary Glyphosate and Its Metabolites in Occupationally Exposed Workers in Eastern China

Concentration Distribution and Analysis of Urinary Glyphosate and Its Metabolites in Occupationally Exposed Workers in Eastern China

The impact and toxicity of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides on health and immunity

Glyphosate and AMPA levels in human urine samples and their correlation with food consumption: results of the cross-sectional KarMeN study in Germany

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