U.S. National Nutrition Examination Survey revealed the herbicide was found in 1,885 of 2,310 urine samples <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, July 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — More than 80 percent of Americans have a widely used herbicide detectable in their urine, a new government study suggests. The chemical — glyphosate — is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer has said<\/a>. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, a well-known weed killer.<\/p>\n The U.S. National Nutrition Examination Survey revealed<\/a> the herbicide was found in 1,885 of 2,310 urine samples that were representative of the U.S. population. Nearly a third of the samples came from children ages 6 to 18 years. Traces of the herbicide have previously been found in children’s cereals, baby formula, organic beer and wine, hummus, and chickpeas.<\/p>\n “Children in the U.S. are regularly exposed to this cancer-causing weed killer through the food they eat virtually every day,” Alex Temkin, a toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement<\/a> issued Monday. “The Environmental Protection Agency should take concrete regulatory action to dramatically lower the levels of glyphosate in the food supply and protect children’s health.”<\/p>\n German pharmaceutical company Bayer purchased the Roundup brand when it bought the agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018, CBS News<\/em> reported. In 2020, the EPA determined that the chemical was not a serious health risk and “not likely” to cause cancer in humans. However, a federal appeals court ordered the EPA to reexamine those findings last month.<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court last month rejected Bayer’s bid to shut down ongoing lawsuits over whether the herbicide causes cancer. The justices also let a $25 million judgment on behalf of a California man stand. In that case, the plaintiff said he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma from decades of using Roundup on his property, CBS New<\/em>s reported.<\/p>\n So far, Bayer has won four cases in state courts where plaintiffs alleged that Roundup caused their cancer, CBS News<\/em> said. The company continues to assert that the herbicide is safe, but plans to replace it<\/a> in Roundup intended for residential use beginning next year. The chemical will still be included in products meant for professional and farm use.<\/p>\n