In August 2018 a jury awarded a dying man $289 million in damages after he claimed Glyphosate in Monsanto's common weed killer, Roundup, caused his terminal cancer. Dewayen Johnson, a school groundsman in Benicia, California was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma back in 2014. This landmark lawsuit sets a precedent for over 5,000 plaintiffs across the country filing similar lawsuits.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a non-selective herbicide that was discovered in 1973 and commercially produced in 1974. Today it is the most widely applied agricultural chemical on the planet. A 2015 study published in Environmental Sciences Europe revealed that since coming into production in 1974, an alarming 9.4 million tons of glyphosate has been applied to crops and agricultural fields across the world, 1.8 million of which where applied to crops grown on American soil.
Because this chemical is so heavily used, and its use is so widespread, it raises some very important questions. Can it get into our drinking water, and if so, what are the health implications?
The guide below outlines some of the key issues to help you better understand your risk of exposure via your Drinking water; explaining how glyphosate can get into your drinking water, and whether it poses a health risk to you and your family if it does.
How does glyphosate get into drinking water?
A 2007 report, titled Public Health Goal for GLYPHOSATE in Drinking Water, suggests that while glyphosate shows an affinity to soil, it can leach into surface water bodies and groundwater systems via two primary pathways: 1) When the herbicide is blown into water bodies that lie adjacent to fields sprayed with Roundup; and 2) Via runoff when sprayed fields are irrigated, which can contaminate water bodies further away. Because glyphosate is stable in water, it does not readily degrade, but rather persists in the aquatic environment.
The most likely route of exposure to humans is by directly inhaling or through skin contact with the chemical, or indirectly by drinking water contaminated with Roundup, or consuming crops that have been sprayed with it.
While the majority of lawsuits currently underway involve plaintiffs who were directly exposed to Roundup after using the product in their gardens, school yards or farms, there have been instances where drinking water facilities have reported glyphosate levels that are higher than the EPA's safety standard for drinking water (0.7 mg/L or 700 ppb) and the much lower level recommended by the Environmental Working Group (0.5 mg/L or 5 parts per billion). In effect, people living in the communities these facilities serve potentially now face a a greater risk of developing cancer than people not exposed to glyphosate in their drinking water.
Does exposure to Glyphosate in drinking water pose a health risk?
While Monsanto maintains that Roundup does not cause cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (ISRC) thinks otherwise, listing glyphosate as a Group 2A chemical, meaning it's "probably carcinogenic to humans". Animal studies show a link between cancer and exposure to glyphosate, while the limited observations on humans show that exposure is associated with the development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Exposure to glyphosate is also linked to kidney disorders, problems with the reproductive system and impaired fetal growth, as well a disruption to the endocrine system.
The best way to ensure the water you drink is free from potentially harmful glyphosate is to filter it with a good quality drinking water filter. Black Berkey filters have been tested to remove glyphosate to below lab detectable limits of >75%, which was the limitation of the testing equipment — the actual removal rate may be much higher.
