The CDC recently released a report showing that 81% of the US population has glyphosate present in their urine. Glyphosate is indeed omnipresent in our environment, and we are exposed to it in a variety of ways.
Spray
The most obvious way in which we can be exposed to glyphosate is through its use on landscapes. Glyphosate-based herbicides can be purchased for home use at stores like Home Depot and Target.
Glyphosate is also used on a larger scale through professional applications on schools, parks, roadsides, sports fields, golf courses and sidewalks. States allow the prolific use of glyphosate in national parks, exposing our treasured, preserved natural environments to all of the toxicity they were meant to be spared.
Depending on safety measures taken to protect themselves from exposure, farmers and farming communities are the most exposed to glyphosate given their proximity to agricultural use.
The Roundup cancer trials that have been ongoing since 2018 are based on glyphosate’s potential to cause non-hodgkins lymphoma from exposure. These cases represent plaintiffs who were dermally exposed to glyphosate. Despite what industry claims, the glyphosate residues do not quickly disappear after application, and in fact stay present on the sidewalk until washed away.
Diet
According to the EPA, 280 million pounds of glyphosate are applied to an average of 298 million acres of US cropland annually. Many high value crops (tree nuts, grapes, vegetables) and large acreage field crops (soybean, cotton corn) have a large percentage of acres treated with glyphosate.
Glyphosate is also used as a pre-harvest drying agent on several crops including grains, sugarcane, and legumes, leaving significant residue on our food and accounting for an estimated 80% of our dietary exposure to glyphosate.
Many studies have quantified the alarming levels of glyphosate in our food.
Glyphosate is also found in some drinking water supplies, so be sure to use a filter!
Other Surprising Places Glyphosate Is Found
Breastmilk
Glyphosate Testing Full Report: Findings in American Mothers’ Breast Milk, Urine and Water.
Determination of glyphosate in breast milk of lactating women in a rural area
Air
Pesticides in Mississippi air and rain: a comparison between 1995 and 2007
Rain & Groundwater
Cotton (tampons, gauze)
Tampons, Sanitary Pads and Sterile Gauze Contaminated with Glyphosate
