Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally
TL;DR: Glyphosate will likely remain the most widely applied pesticide worldwide for years to come, and interest will grow in quantifying ecological and human health impacts, according to published global pesticide use data.
Abstract: Accurate pesticide use data are essential when studying the environmental and public health impacts of pesticide use. Since the mid-1990s, significant changes have occurred in when and how glyphosate herbicides are applied, and there has been a dramatic increase in the total volume applied. Data on glyphosate applications were collected from multiple sources and integrated into a dataset spanning agricultural, non-agricultural, and total glyphosate use from 1974–2014 in the United States, and from 1994–2014 globally. Since 1974 in the U.S., over 1.6 billion kilograms of glyphosate active ingredient have been applied, or 19 % of estimated global use of glyphosate (8.6 billion kilograms). Globally, glyphosate use has risen almost 15-fold since so-called “Roundup Ready,” genetically engineered glyphosate-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996. Two-thirds of the total volume of glyphosate applied in the U.S. from 1974 to 2014 has been sprayed in just the last 10 years. The corresponding share globally is 72 %. In 2014, farmers sprayed enough glyphosate to apply ~1.0 kg/ha (0.8 pound/acre) on every hectare of U.S.-cultivated cropland and nearly 0.53 kg/ha (0.47 pounds/acre) on all cropland worldwide. Genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant crops now account for about 56 % of global glyphosate use. In the U.S., no pesticide has come remotely close to such intensive and widespread use. This is likely the case globally, but published global pesticide use data are sparse. Glyphosate will likely remain the most widely applied pesticide worldwide for years to come, and interest will grow in quantifying ecological and human health impacts. Accurate, accessible time-series data on glyphosate use will accelerate research progress.
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TL;DR: In this article, the impact of glyphosate residues on the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and narrow leaf lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L) seedlings in a sandy soil with a low buffering capacity was investigated.
Abstract: Glyphosate use has increased in recent decades with the adoption of minimum tillage techniques and the emergence of glyphosate-tolerant crop cultivars. There is evidence that glyphosate residues are common in cropping soils at sowing, but any potential impact of these residues on crop growth is not known. This study aimed to determine concentrations of soilborne glyphosate that are phytotoxic to common crop species and investigate any interactions between glyphosate residues and phosphorus (P) fertiliser. A pot study examined the impact of soilborne glyphosate residues on the growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and narrow leaf lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L) seedlings in a sandy soil with a low P buffering capacity in the absence or presence of P fertiliser applied as a liquid to the topsoil. A second pot study investigated whether the phytotoxic effects of soilborne glyphosate residues on lupin growth in the presence of P fertiliser could be mitigated by banding the P fertiliser (as superphosphate) as per standard practice by farmers. Wheat was more tolerant of glyphosate residues than lupin, with glyphosate levels up to 14.8 mg kg−1 having no effect on wheat shoot growth at 48 days after sowing (DAS), while lupin shoot growth at 48 DAS had an ED10 (i.e. a 10% yield reduction) of glyphosate at 6.4 mg kg−1 in the absence of P fertiliser. When P fertiliser was applied, wheat shoot biomass had an ED10 of 5.8 mg glyphosate kg−1 soil while lupins had an ED10 of 3.4 mg glyphosate kg−1 soil. When P fertiliser (superphosphate) was banded at sowing, lupins grown adjacent to band were unaffected by glyphosate whereas the shoot weights of lupins planted above the band were significantly reduced by 68% in soil containing 1.3 mg kg−1 glyphosate and 81% in soil containing 3.4 mg kg−1 glyphosate. Where P fertiliser was applied, growth reductions in lupin seedlings were observed at soil glyphosate concentrations that have been observed in farmers’ fields, suggesting that glyphosate residues may be problematic in sandy soils with low P buffering capacities. Banding of P fertiliser exacerbated, rather than mitigated, the phytotoxicity of glyphosate residues to lupins where P fertiliser was banded directly beneath the seed.
16 citations
Cites background from "Trends in glyphosate herbicide use ..."
...More recently, however, glyphosate use has increased with the development of glyphosate-resistant crops, and it is now estimated that around 56% of glyphosate usage is assoc ia ted wi th g lyphosa te - res i s tan t c rops (Benbrook 2016)....
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...It is the most widely used weed killer in the world because it controls a broad spectrum of weeds, has a relatively low cost of production and has low mammalian toxicity (Baylis 2000; Benbrook 2016)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the contribution of electroanalytical methods for the determination of glyphosate in different food and environmental matrices, such as soil, water, and biological fluids, and show that electrochemical sensors are powerful detection system that can be improved by their design and by their portability to fulfil the needs of the GLY determination in laboratory benches, or even in situ analysis.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the combined effect of technical-grade glyphosate, Roundup Max® and Glifosato Atanor® on phytoplankton from Salto Grande Reservoir (Uruguay River, Argentina) was investigated.
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TL;DR: In this article, the levels of glufosinate-ammonium (GLU), glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine; PMG], and its metabolite aminomethemyl phosphoric acid (AMPA) were determined in tea samples by HPLC-MS/MS using several current purification methods and a new method that was developed herein.
Abstract: The tea shrub is grown in long-standing orchards, an environment that is suitable for persistent weed growth, which is increasingly controlled by herbicides. Therefore, there is increasing concern that tea consumers may be exposed to herbicide residues. In this study, the levels of glufosinate-ammonium (GLU), glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine; PMG], and its metabolite aminomethyl phosphoric acid (AMPA) were determined in tea samples by HPLC-MS/MS using several current purification methods and a new method that we developed herein. The matrix effect of our proposed method was between -27.3 and 27.7%, which was lower than that in other methods, indicating that this method effectively reduced the interference of tea matrix in the mass spectrometry process. This method was used to determine the levels of PMG, GLU, and AMPA in 780 samples, including six traditional Chinese teas (green tea, black tea, oolong tea, dark tea, white tea, and yellow tea) and a floral tea, from 14 provinces of China. Probability estimates showed that the 95th percentile risk entropy values of the three pesticide residues were far below the acceptable risk level. The risk assessment results showed that exposure to PMG, GLU, and AMPA caused by drinking tea beverages poses no significant risk to human health.
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TL;DR: The size of juvenile fish is an important factor affecting ChEs mean activity and variability, whereas pesticide had no significant effect on adult fish ChEs, and Insecticides were stronger inhibitors compared to herbicides and fungicides.
16 citations
References
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TL;DR: One of the first specialized agencies of the United Nations to become active, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as discussed by the authors has elicited interest beyond the specialized field of agricultural economists.
Abstract: One of the first of the specialized agencies of the United Nations to become active, the Food and Agriculture Organization has elicited interest beyond the specialized field of agricultural economists. Attempting as it does to solve one of the very basic problems of the world, that of an adequate food supply, the organization represents a significant and hopeful international attempt to create a world in which there may actually exist “freedom from want.” The objectives of FAO, as formally expressed in the preamble to the constitution, read as follows:“The nations accepting this constitution being determined to promote the common welfare by furthering separate and collective action on their part for the purpose of raising levels of nutrition and standards of living of the people under their jurisdiction, securing improvements in the efficiency of the production of all food and agricultural products, bettering the conditions of rural populations, and thus contributing toward an expanding world economy, hereby establish the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.”
4,803 citations
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TL;DR: The use of this virtually ideal herbicide is now being threatened by the evolution of glyphosate-resistant weeds, and adoption of resistance management practices will be required to maintain the benefits of glyphosate technologies for future generations.
Abstract: Since its commercial introduction in 1974, glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine] has become the dominant herbicide worldwide. There are several reasons for its success. Glyphosate is a highly effective broad-spectrum herbicide, yet it is very toxicologically and environmentally safe. Glyphosate translocates well, and its action is slow enough to take advantage of this. Glyphosate is the only herbicide that targets 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), so there are no competing herbicide analogs or classes. Since glyphosate became a generic compound, its cost has dropped dramatically. Perhaps the most important aspect of the success of glyphosate has been the introduction of transgenic, glyphosate-resistant crops in 1996. Almost 90% of all transgenic crops grown worldwide are glyphosate resistant, and the adoption of these crops is increasing at a steady pace. Glyphosate/glyphosate-resistant crop weed management offers significant environmental and other benefits over the technologies that it replaces. The use of this virtually ideal herbicide is now being threatened by the evolution of glyphosate-resistant weeds. Adoption of resistance management practices will be required to maintain the benefits of glyphosate technologies for future generations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry
1,331 citations
"Trends in glyphosate herbicide use ..." refers background in this paper
...John Franz, identified the herbicidal activity of glyphosate in 1970, and a formulated end-use product called Roundup was first sold commercially by Monsanto in 1974 [2]....
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TL;DR: GBHs are the most heavily applied herbicide in the world and usage continues to rise; Worldwide, GBHs often contaminate drinking water sources, precipitation, and air, especially in agricultural regions and regulatory estimates of tolerable daily intakes for glyphosate in the United States and European Union are based on outdated science.
Abstract: The broad-spectrum herbicide glyphosate (common trade name “Roundup”) was first sold to farmers in 1974. Since the late 1970s, the volume of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) applied has increased approximately 100-fold. Further increases in the volume applied are likely due to more and higher rates of application in response to the widespread emergence of glyphosate-resistant weeds and new, pre-harvest, dessicant use patterns. GBHs were developed to replace or reduce reliance on herbicides causing well-documented problems associated with drift and crop damage, slipping efficacy, and human health risks. Initial industry toxicity testing suggested that GBHs posed relatively low risks to non-target species, including mammals, leading regulatory authorities worldwide to set high acceptable exposure limits. To accommodate changes in GBH use patterns associated with genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crops, regulators have dramatically increased tolerance levels in maize, oilseed (soybeans and canola), and alfalfa crops and related livestock feeds. Animal and epidemiology studies published in the last decade, however, point to the need for a fresh look at glyphosate toxicity. Furthermore, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer recently concluded that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” In response to changing GBH use patterns and advances in scientific understanding of their potential hazards, we have produced a Statement of Concern drawing on emerging science relevant to the safety of GBHs. Our Statement of Concern considers current published literature describing GBH uses, mechanisms of action, toxicity in laboratory animals, and epidemiological studies. It also examines the derivation of current human safety standards. We conclude that: (1) GBHs are the most heavily applied herbicide in the world and usage continues to rise; (2) Worldwide, GBHs often contaminate drinking water sources, precipitation, and air, especially in agricultural regions; (3) The half-life of glyphosate in water and soil is longer than previously recognized; (4) Glyphosate and its metabolites are widely present in the global soybean supply; (5) Human exposures to GBHs are rising; (6) Glyphosate is now authoritatively classified as a probable human carcinogen; (7) Regulatory estimates of tolerable daily intakes for glyphosate in the United States and European Union are based on outdated science. We offer a series of recommendations related to the need for new investments in epidemiological studies, biomonitoring, and toxicology studies that draw on the principles of endocrinology to determine whether the effects of GBHs are due to endocrine disrupting activities. We suggest that common commercial formulations of GBHs should be prioritized for inclusion in government-led toxicology testing programs such as the U.S. National Toxicology Program, as well as for biomonitoring as conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
638 citations