Increased exposure to glyphosate, one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States and much of the world, harms infant health in U.S. agricultural counties, according to a new study by two University of Oregon economists.
In a paper published Jan. 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Emmett Reynier and Edward Rubin showed that a dramatic increase in the use of glyphosate in U.S.
counties most suitable for genetically engineered crops lowered birthweights and gestation, the number of weeks from conception to birth. They note that because pre-term births, on average, cost an estimated $82,000 in additional medical, educational and other expenses compared to a full-term birth, the national economic impact of the infant health effects translates to between $750 million and $1.1 billion in annual expenses.
It does not include other potential health costs. Reynier is a doctoral candidate in economics whose work is supported by a research fellowship with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Rubin is an environmental economist and assistant professor in the Department of Economics. The EPA first approved glyphosate for use as an herbicide in the United States in 1974.
Federal law requires such decisions to be reviewed every 15 years. In 2020, the agency determined that, if used according to label directions, glyphosate poses no risks to human health. The EPA also found that the herbicide is unlikely to cause cancer in humans.
In 2022, those findi.