Pregnancy Roundup Exposure Linked to Increased Risk of Low Birth Weight, Study Warns

The findings of a new study link pregnancy Roundup exposure to an increased risk of giving birth to a child with low birth weight, adding to the potential health risks associated with the controversial glyphosate-based weed killer.

Researchers with the Indiana University School of Medicine and the University of California San Francisco warn that prenatal exposure to the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, during the first trimester increased the risk of low birth weight and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission. The findings were published in the journal Environmental Health on October 11, 2022.

Glyphosate is Roundup’s primary active ingredient, and this recent study is just one of the latest to raise concerns about the risks associated with exposure to the weedkiller, with glyphosate in Roundup already known to increase the risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

As a result of Monsanto’s failure to disclose that risk associated with glyphosate exposure, the company has faced tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits, which uncovered internal documents that highlighted how the company has covered up negative findings associated with glyphosate for decades, and manipulated study results involving the widely used weed killer.

In this latest study, researchers collected random urine specimens from high risk pregnant women going through their first trimester of pregnancy between 2013 and 2016 as part of the Indiana Pregnancy Environmental Exposures Study (PEES). They looked for urine glyphosate levels and gestation-adjusted birth weight percentiles (BWT%ile) and NICU admissions.

According to the findings, 99% of women tested had glyphosate (GLY) urine levels above the limit of detection. Researchers found that newborn birth weight percentiles were negatively affected related to the amount of glyphosate detected in the mother’s urine. Women with high glyphosate levels in the first trimester are 16% more likely to have a child who needed to be admitted to NICU, the data indicates.

“GLY was found in 99% of pregnant women in this Midwestern cohort. Higher maternal GLY levels in the first trimester were associated with lower BWT%iles and higher NICU admission risk,” the researchers concluded. “The results warrant further investigation on the effects of GLY exposure in human pregnancies in larger population studies.”

The findings came at about the same time as a study published in the November issue of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, which found that just before birth Roundup exposure may increase the risk of liver damage in newborns due to iron overload.

Roundup Lawsuits Over Failure to Warn About Glyphosate Risks

Following the release of other studies that highlighted the link between Roundup and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Monsanto has faced litigation brought on behalf of individuals diagnosed with the blood cancer, each raising similar allegations that the manufacturer failed to adequately warn about the risks associated with glyphosate exposure.

Following several years of litigation and massive verdicts returned in a number of early trials, Monsanto has agreed to pay billions in Roundup settlements for former users diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and the companies are expected to continue to face claims over the glyphosate-based weed killer for years to come.

In response to the growing concerns and massive verdicts, the manufacturer announced plans last year to remove glyphosate from Roundup versions of the weed killers sold to U.S. residential customers by 2023. The products would still be sold under the Roundup label, but would use a different active ingredient, which has not been linked to a risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other side effects. However, glyphosate would still be used in products sold to agricultural businesses and farmers, and in product sold in other parts of the world.