4-D Archives

4-D

February 16, 2024

Alarming levels of weed killer found in study of pregnant women

By Johnathan Hettinger and Carey Gillam

Pregnant women in a key US farm state are showing increasing amounts of a toxic weed killer in their urine, a rise that comes alongside climbing use of the chemicals in agriculture, according to a new study published Friday.

The study, led by the Indiana University School of Medicine, showed that 70% of pregnant women tested in Indiana between 2020 and 2022 had an herbicide called dicamba in their urine, up from 28% from a similar analysis for the period 2010-2012 that included women in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio.

Notably, the new study found that along with a larger percentage of women showing the presence of dicamba in their bodies, the concentrations of the weed killing chemical increased more than four-fold.

The study also looked for the presence of 2,4-dichloroacetic acid, better known as 2,4-D, in the urine samples, finding that 100% of the women in both the earlier study and the new one had 2,4-D in their urine, with detectable, but not significant, increases in concentration levels.

The new findings add to a growing body of literature documenting human exposure to chemicals used in agriculture, and various known and potential health impacts. Many scientists have particular concerns about how farm chemicals impact pregnant women and their children, but say more research – and more regulatory scrutiny – is needed.

“These are two chemicals we’re concerned about because of their increasing use,” said Paul Winchester, a neonatal physician in Indianapolis, Indiana, who was not involved in this study but has authored related studies.

Dicamba exposure has been linked to increased risk of liver and bile duct cancer. Some animal studies of 2,4-D exposure during pregnancy found low body weights and changes in behavior in the offspring, while other studies have found that exposure to 2,4-D appears to increase the risk of lymphoma.

October 11, 2023

Young brains appear at risk from exposure to popular weed killers

By Carey Gillam

Exposure to two widely used weed killers could be harming the brain function of young people, impacting their memory and learning abilities, according to a study published Wednesday.

The study looked specifically at glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and scores of other brands, and also at 2,4-D – a long-used, weed killing chemical that has seen a surge in use in recent years and has increasingly been combined with glyphosate to kill tenacious weeds.

Concerns about impaired brain function were associated with both chemicals, particularly with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), according to the study, which was led by researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego and published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

“This herbicide (2,4-D) has gone mostly under the radar and more studies aimed at understanding the health effect of herbicide exposures are needed,” said Jose Ricardo Suarez, director of the Climate and Environmental Health Research Program at the University of California San Diego.

“This builds on the growing knowledge that not just insecticides – pesticides that are designed to be neurotoxins – can affect brain processes,” Suarez said. The study showed that as herbicide exposures increased, neurobehavioral performance decreased, he said.

The researchers analyzed urine samples taken from 519 young people ages 11-17 who lived in farming communities in Ecuador where herbicides and other pesticides were sprayed. They then assessed the neurobehavioral performance of the youth, testing them on their attention/inhibitory control, memory/learning, language, visuospatial processing, and social perception.

Glyphosate was detected in the urine of 98.3% of the study participants and 2,4-D in 66.2%. Glyphosate was associated with problems with social perception, while 2,4-D was associated with attention/inhibition, language and memory/learning skills.