Glyphosate
Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum systemic herbicide, and is the active ingredient in a number of non-selective herbicides. These types of herbicides are frequently used as an easy and cost effective way to manage a variety of weeds, whether in orchard rows, gardens, lawns, or farm fields. The use of glyphosate has rapidly increased, such that in 2016 there was an estimated 100 fold increase from the late 1970’s. As its use has increased, so have the questions and concerns over the potential risks to humans and the environment. Towards this end, The World health Organization has classified glyphosate a probable carcinogen.
The US EPA has established tolerances for glyphosate on a wide range of crops, including corn, soybean, oil seeds, grains, and some fruits and vegetables. These range from 0.1 to 310 ppm. For human exposures, the U.S. EPA has set glyphosate’s daily chronic Reference Dose at 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight (mg/kg bodyweight/day) while the European Union has set the level at 0.5 mg/kg/day. Recently, it has been suggested that the EU will be lowering the level to 0.1 mg/kg/day; 17-times lower than EPA’s suggested level. In addition, the State of California has set a standard that is 100 times lower than the USEPA’s acceptable allowance. On July 7, 2017, glyphosate was listed as a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer. The attendant “warning requirement” that glyphosate “causes cancer” was set to take effect on July 7, 2018 in accordance to Proposition 65 (Prop 65).
Proposition 65 (Prop 65) is a California law proposed initially as the Safe Water and Toxic Enforcement Act and approved by voters in 1986. Prop 65 is intended to provide California residents with information about compounds in the environment around them that might be harmful (i.e. have been linked to cancer, reproductive harm, or developmental defects). Prop 65 dictates that California businesses with more than 10 employees that sell products in the state are required to provide “clear and reasonable warnings” about a chemical’s ability to cause cancer, reproductive harm, or birth defects on packaging or labels.
Great Plains Analytical Laboratory offers a cost effective, rapid screen for the presence of glyphosate using a direct ELISA assay (mdl of 0.083ppb). Please contact us today to discuss your needs.
