Molecular Database
Glyphosate
MW: 169.07 g/mol
CAS Number: 1071-83-6
Use and production
Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum systematic herbicide and crop dessicant. It is an organophosphorus compound, specifically a phosphonate, which acts by inhibiting the plant enzyme. It is used to kill weeds, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crops. Glyphosate is marketed in the United States and worldwide by many agrochemical companies, in different solution strengths and with various adjuvants, under dozens of tradenames. As of 2010, more than 750 glyphosate products were on the market.
Toxicity
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified glyphosate in Group 2A, "probably carcinogenic to humans" in 2015.
As of 2020, the evidence for long-term exposure to glyphosate increasing the risk of human cancer remains inconclusive. There is weak evidence human cancer risk might increase as a result of occupational exposure to large amounts of glyphosate, such as in agricultural work. A meta-analysis published in 2019 looked at whether there was an association between an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans and high cumulative exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides. The research found a "compelling link" between exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides and increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A 2021 meta-analysis of glyphosate exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma cautioned that such results can be biased by "assumptions made about both exposure level and latency period."
Ahead of the completion of the process and the publication of the SCHEER final opinion, the EU Commission published on 26 October 2022 its proposal for a legislative package, in which they have proposed surface water EQS values for glyphosate.
EU treshold for glyphosate is 0.1 ppb.*
* https://www.glyphosate.eu/useful-information/environment-biodiversity/environmental-monitoring-of-glyphosate-ampa-metabolite-in-the-eu/