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Soil
Published in Stanley E. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2022
Weeds are another major class of agricultural pest. Numerous herbicides have been developed to kill weeds. Probably one of the safest of these—and certainly one of the most widely used—is Monsanto's Roundup, glyphosate. A problem with Roundup and many other herbicides is that they may kill crops that they are used to protect. Soybeans, cotton, corn, and other crops have now been genetically engineered so as not to be harmed by Roundup, allowing its direct application to these crops to kill competing weeds and thus eliminating the need to remove weeds from the crops by mechanical cultivation. The use of genetically modified so-called Roundup-ready crops beginning in the latter 1990s enabled a revolution in the cultivation of some crops, especially corn, soybeans, and cotton, such that within a few years, most of these crops grown in the United States were resistant to the herbicide. However, by 2015, some weed species, especially pigweed, had also developed resistance to Roundup. In addition, Roundup has been suspected of causing Nonhodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and has been the subject of many lawsuits because of that. However, Roundup remains on the market and is generally regarded as safe when used according to directions.
Biological Engineering Solutions
Published in Arthur T. Johnson, Biology for Engineers, 2019
Glyphosate is a popular herbicide commercially called “Round-Up.” It kills plants by translocation to roots, where it has lethal effects. Glyphosate is then harmlessly decomposed in the soil. GMO crops incorporate a gene that allows them to produce a modified enzyme that makes them tolerant of glyphosate. Thus, fields can be sprayed with this herbicide, and the only plants supposed to die are the weeds. Glyphosate-resistant weeds have developed, however, and cause problems for crop producers (See Example 1.6.4). New transgenic crops based on other herbicides have been introduced.
Pesticides and Chronic Diseases
Published in William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel, Reversibility of Chronic Disease and Hypersensitivity, Volume 4, 2017
William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel
The problem with this cozy arrangement, aside from the fact that Roundup-resistant “superweeds” are emerging as a new biological catastrophe, is that glyphosate has now been demonstrated to be linked to birth defects as one of the most highly toxic substances in agriculture. The U.S. Government's EPA, nonetheless continues to regard Roundup as “relatively low in toxicity, and without carcinogenic or teratogenic effects.” Of course nothing is said about the hypersensitive response which results in chemical sensitivity.
Evaluation of glyphosate exposure on testosterone among U.S. adult men
Published in Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 2023
Frank Glover, Dana Barr, Jasmin Eatman, Wade Muncey, Francesco Del Giudice, Federico Belladelli, Nicolas Seranio, Michael L. Eisenberg
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide and the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S., where an estimated 280 million pounds of glyphosate are applied to crop lands annually (Tarazona et al. 2017). Glyphosate is the primary active ingredient in commercial herbicide mixtures under the tradenames Roundup™, Rodeo™, and Eraser™ (Richmond 2018). Since its introduction to the global market in the 1970s, glyphosate has been used to control weed growth and broad leaf foliage in agricultural settings, which has increased global crop yields and economic productivity necessary to support an ever-growing population (Brookes et al. 2017). Despite its benefits, glyphosate has been classified as a potential carcinogen by the International Agency on the Research for Cancer (IARC), and as an endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), where experimental and population studies have demonstrated its adverse effects on the production and function of various hormones including testosterone (Andreotti et al. 2018; Dai et al. 2016; Romano et al. 2010).
Fate, eco-toxicological characteristics, and treatment processes applied to water polluted with glyphosate: A critical review
Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2019
Cristina Alejandra Villamar-Ayala, Jeanette Verónica Carrera-Cevallos, Ruben Vasquez-Medrano, Patricio Javier Espinoza-Montero
Glyphosate is a nonselective herbicide that is massively-produced as a mixture of glyphosate salt with co-adjuvant and inert compounds, commercially known as Roundup® and manufactured since 1970 by Monsanto (Baylis, 2000; Giesy, Dobson, & Solomon, 2000). This is the most widely used herbicide, its sales averaged from 85.5 to 130.5 million kilograms during 2012 (Grube, Donaldson, Kiely, & Wu, 2011). Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) represent 60% of the global sales of “broad spectrum” herbicides (Diamand & Barron, 2001). The total global use of technical glyphosate (crop and non-crop) was around 7 to 16 million kilograms in 1995, reaching 126 million kilograms in 2014 (Woodburn, 2000; Benbrook, 2016).