Update on human exposure to glyphosate, with a complete review of exposure in children

BACKGROUND: Glyphosate, a commonly used pesticide, has been the topic of much debate. The effects of exposure to glyphosate remains a contentious topic. This paper provides an update to the existing literature regarding levels of glyphosate exposure in occupationally exposed individuals and focuses or reviewing all the available published literature regarding glyphosate exposure levels in children. METHODS: A literature review was conducted and any articles reporting quantifiable exposure levels in humans published since January 2019 (the last published review on glyphosate exposure) were reviewed and data extracted and standardized. RESULTS: A total of five new studies reporting exposure levels in humans were found including 578 subjects. Two of these studies focused on occupationally exposed individuals while three of them focused on glyphosate exposure levels in children. Given the sparse nature of the new data, previously identified studies on exposure to glyphosate in children were included in our analysis of children’s exposure. The lowest average level of glyphosate exposure reported was 0.28 μg/L and the highest average exposure levels reported was 4.04 μg/L. CONCLUSION: The literature on glyphosate exposure levels, especially in children, remains limited. Without more data collected in a standardized way, parsing out the potential relationship between glyphosate exposure and disease will not be possible.