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The Link Between Roundup Exposure and Cancer
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What ingredient in Roundup might be dangerous?
Roundup’s cancer risk comes from glyphosate, the main ingredient used in its herbicide formula. Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum, non-selective herbicide designed to kill grasses and broadleaf weeds. The Monsanto Company was the very first to use glyphosate as an herbicide, and the chemical was registered for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1974. That same year, Monsanto began selling Roundup weed killer in stores across the United States.
Glyphosate works by blocking an enzyme pathway that plants, fungi, and other tiny organisms need to survive, killing them down to the roots. Crops that are intended to be used alongside glyphosate are genetically modified to be resistant to the herbicide’s effects, making crop harvesting and weed control easier for farmers. Today, the ability to kill weeds all at once by spraying down entire fields of “Roundup Ready” crops has made glyphosate the most commonly used herbicide on earth. According to Environmental Sciences Europe, the level of global glyphosate use in 2014 was FIFTEEN TIMES the amount of glyphosate used back in 1996 when “Roundup Ready” crops were introduced.
Common symptoms caused by glyphosate exposure
Over the decades, the widespread use of glyphosate has caused unintended effects to the environment and to human health. Though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that glyphosate is not harmful when used correctly, the agency determined in 2021 that the herbicide was likely to have harmed over 1,600 threatened and endangered plants and animals.
The CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has also found that glyphosate causes a variety of side effects in humans. Depending on whether you breathed in glyphosate, got the chemical on your skin, or consumed it in a small amount, your symptoms may significantly vary.
- Skin irritation
- Eye irritation
- Rhinitis
- Asthma
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Mouth and throat burning
- Increased saliva production
There have been fatalities reported in cases where the deceased individual consumed a significant amount of glyphosate, but the herbicide is not considered fatal when accidentally ingested in trace amounts.
Glyphosate exposure and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Frequent exposure to glyphosate has also been linked to more serious health issues, including an increased risk of developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that originates in the lymphatic system.
In a 2014 article shared in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, scientists analyzed the data of 44 glyphosate research papers published since 1980. When examining the results of all 44 studies collectively, the researchers were able to conclude that people exposed to glyphosate did experience a higher incidence of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma than people who were not exposed. The following year, the IARC classified glyphosate as a Group 2A substance that is “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Then in 2019, a new study from the researchers at the University of Washington found that the risk of developing Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma increased by 41% for people who were frequently exposed to large amounts of glyphosate. Four years later in 2023, an pooled analysis of three Swedish case-control studies affirmed previous findings by determining that people who were exposed to glyphosate were 2.2 times more likely to develop Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma than those who weren’t.
Join the Roundup lawsuit
If you or a close family member developed Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (or a related type of lymphoma or leukemia) after being exposed to Roundup weed killer within the last 20 years, there’s still time to get the justice you deserve.
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See if you qualify for the Roundup lawsuit.
Referenced Articles
- Mesnage, R., Antoniou, M.N. (2018). Roundup Ready! Glyphosate and the Current Controversy Over the World’s Leading Herbicide. In Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene (pp. 149–153). essay, Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/glyphosate#chapters-articles.
- Fitzgerald, S. et al. (2024, June 5). Glyphosate: Health Concerns and Safer Alternatives. Retrieved from https://www.drugwatch.com/roundup/glyphosate/
View more sources
- Benbrook, C. Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally. Environ Sci Eur 28, 3 (2016). https://enveurope.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s12302-016-0070-0
- Center for Biological Diversity. (2021, November 15). EPA: Two Most Widely Used Pesticides Likely Harm Majority of Endangered Species. Retrieved from https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/epa-two-most-widely-used-pesticides-likely-harm-majority-of-endangered-species-2021-11-15/
- U.S. EPA. (2023, October 5). Final National Level Listed Species Biological Evaluation for Glyphosate. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/endangered-species/final-national-level-listed-species-biological-evaluation-glyphosate#executive-summary
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. (2020, August 10). ToxFAQs for Glyphosate. Retrieved from https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=1489&toxid=293#:~:text=It%20can%20be%20very%20irritating,in%20people%20using%20glyphosate%20products.
- Henderson, A.M. et al. (2010). Glyphosate General Fact Sheet; National Pesticide Information Center, Oregon State University Extension Services. Retrieved from http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html.
- Schinasi, L. et al. (2014, April 23). Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Occupational Exposure to Agricultural Pesticide Chemical Groups and Active Ingredients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. article, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24762670/
- World Health Organization. (2015). IARC Monograph on Glyphosate. Retrieved from https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/
- Zhang, L. et al. (2019, February 2). Exposure to Glyphosate-Based Herbicides and Risk for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Meta-Analysis and Supporting Evidence. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1383574218300887
- Carlberg, M. et al. (2023, March 20). Exposure to phenoxyacetic acids and glyphosate as risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma– pooled analysis of three Swedish case-control studies including the sub-type hairy cell leukemia. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10428194.2023.2190434?journalCode=ilal20
About the Roundup Lawsuit
Products at-risk
Roundup Weed & Grass Killer
Who's being sued?
The Monsanto Company, Bayer AG
Which illnesses are eligible ?
- Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
- Chronic Lymphocytic Lymphoma
- B-Cell and T-Cell Lymphoma
- Follicular Lymphoma
- Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma
- Mantle Cell Lymphoma
- Hairy Cell Leykemia
- Burkitt Lymphoma
- Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
- Marginal Zone Lymphomas
- Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma
- Primary CNS Lymphoma
- Waldenstorm Macroglobulinemia
