The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have signed an agreement to jointly study the health effects of glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer. The memorandum of understanding, announced September 22, creates a joint technical working group to feed research into EPA's ongoing review of the chemical. EPA expects to finish its updated human health risk assessment and cancer evaluation in early 2027.
The review could shape how glyphosate is used on farms, lawns, and food crops for years. For households, it bears on dietary exposure, including residues from spraying crops shortly before harvest. The agreement itself does not change any rules, labels, or permitted uses, and the agencies said it does not predetermine the outcome of EPA's review.
Who Is on the Working Group
According to the HHS announcement, the working group will include EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs and several HHS agencies: the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Toxicology Program, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, and the FDA. A senior NIEHS official will coordinate HHS participation.
The group will focus on the toxicology of glyphosate formulations and the surfactants mixed into them, occupational epidemiology, human exposure and biomonitoring, and dietary exposure. It will also help identify data gaps in emerging areas such as the microbiome. EPA's assessment will evaluate the evidence on cancer, damage to genetic material, and reproductive and developmental effects.
EPA says it will systematically evaluate peer-reviewed research published since its previous assessment, screen those studies against the same criteria it applies to other published research, and explain how the evidence informs its conclusions. The risk assessment will cover exposure to glyphosate-based formulations, not just the active ingredient, along with occupational exposure and dietary exposure from applications made before harvest.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency "will weigh what that work produces the way we weigh any other scientific evidence." Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said HHS would bring its scientific resources to the table to "answer unresolved questions." According to EPA's news release, EPA keeps sole authority over registration decisions, and the agreement creates no new authority for either agency.
A Long-Disputed Scientific Record
Glyphosate's safety has been contested for more than a decade. In 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified it as probably carcinogenic to humans. EPA, by contrast, concluded in its 2020 interim decision that glyphosate was not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.
That decision did not stand. In June 2022, a federal appeals court vacated the human health portion of the interim decision, and EPA withdrew the interim decision that September. Glyphosate products have remained on the market under their existing labels. The court ruling set the current reevaluation in motion, Civil Eats reported.
The research remains mixed. A large National Cancer Institute-supported study of pesticide applicators found no overall link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, while some pooled analyses have suggested a higher risk among the most heavily exposed people. MedicalDaily has reported on a proposed $7.25 billion Roundup lymphoma settlement; Bayer, which owns Roundup maker Monsanto, denies that glyphosate causes cancer.
Farmworkers, Families, and Transparency
The people with the highest potential exposure are farmworkers, pesticide applicators, and landscapers who mix and spray glyphosate products. Home gardeners who use concentrated products and people who live near treated fields may also be exposed. Most people encounter glyphosate mainly through trace residues in food.
Federal law requires EPA to determine that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from total dietary exposure, with particular attention to infants and children. That standard makes the working group's dietary and biomonitoring research especially relevant for parents.
Anyone using a glyphosate product should follow the label, wear the recommended gloves and eye protection, and keep children and pets away from treated areas as the label directs. People who work with herbicides and develop persistent swollen lymph nodes, fevers, night sweats, or unexplained weight loss should see a clinician and mention their exposure history.
HHS and EPA said they intend to post working-group materials on a rolling basis in the public glyphosate docket on Regulations.gov as they are finalized, while protecting confidential business information. EPA also recently opened public comment on a literature search protocol that will guide its updated assessment.
Key Questions Answered
What did HHS and EPA announce? They signed an agreement creating a joint working group to study glyphosate's health effects. It supports EPA's ongoing registration review.
Which agencies are involved? EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs will work with NIEHS, the National Toxicology Program, the National Cancer Institute, NIOSH, the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, and the FDA.
Does this mean glyphosate will be restricted? Not necessarily. EPA keeps sole decision-making authority, and the agencies said the agreement does not predetermine the outcome.
When will EPA decide? EPA expects to complete its updated human health risk assessment and cancer evaluation in early 2027.
Is glyphosate linked to cancer? Agencies disagree. IARC called it probably carcinogenic to humans, while EPA previously found it not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.
Who faces the most exposure? Farmworkers, pesticide applicators, and landscapers face the highest potential exposure. Most people encounter trace amounts in food.
Can the public follow the work? Yes. HHS and EPA said working-group materials will be posted on a rolling basis in the public Docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2009-0361.
Published by Medicaldaily.com
