Agricultural Glyphosate Spray Detected in Pregnant People Living Near Fields

TUESDAY, Dec. 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant people living near agriculture fields have significantly increased urinary glyphosate concentrations during the spray season, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Cynthia L. Curl, Ph.D., from Boise State University in Idaho, and colleagues evaluated glyphosate exposure during pregnancy in relation to residential proximity to agriculture as well as agricultural spray season. The analysis included 453 urine samples collected biweekly from a cohort of 40 pregnant people in Southern Idaho (February through December 2021).

The researchers found that among participants living near fields (<0.5 km), urinary glyphosate was detected more frequently and at significantly increased geometric mean (GM) concentrations during the spray season versus the nonspray season (81 versus 55 percent; 0.228 versus 0.150 µg/L). For participants who lived far from fields, neither glyphosate detection, frequency, nor GMs differed in the spray versus nonspray season (66 versus 64 percent; 0.154 versus 0.165 µg/L).

"Because of the relatively large number of samples per participant, we were able to assess exposures during both spray and nonspray seasons using longer-term averages that reduced intra-individual variability," the authors write.

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