New Study Shows Dangers of Childhood Exposure To Weed Killer

Childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome have increased at an alarming rate in the United States, specifically among populations of color. A new study released by UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health found that children exposed to weed killers containing glyphosate and AMPA were at a higher risk of liver inflammation and metabolic disorders when the children entered adulthood. AMPA is a degradation product of glyphosate and amino-polyphosphonates.  The research study also stated that exposure to glyphosate and AMPA could cause liver cancer, liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, and other long-term health complications.

Brenda Eskenazi, a director at the Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), part of UC Berkeley, led the researchers who conducted the study. Published in Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institute of Health Sciences, the study followed 480 mother-child duos in the Salinas Valley. The Salinas Valley is an agricultural region in California where the use of Roundup is rampant.