Large NYC study adds evidence linking glyphosate to preterm birth risk

Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).

Pregnant women who are exposed to glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, may face an increased risk of preterm births, according to one of the largest studies to date examining the link. 

The study, led by NYU Langone Health and published in Environmental Pollution, showed that pregnant women with higher exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weedkiller Roundup, faced a significantly higher risk of going into spontaneous labor early. While previous research has linked glyphosate exposure to shorter pregnancies, the NYU study is one of the largest to examine exposure during pregnancy and preterm birth in humans.

“This study reinforces that glyphosate exposure during pregnancy is widespread and may be linked to preterm birth risk. Even modest associations matter because pregnancy is a sensitive window, and small risks can translate into large population impacts,” said Jessie Buckley, professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in an email.

“Pregnancy is a sensitive window, and small risks can translate into large population impacts.” — Jessie Buckley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Researchers collected urine samples from 1,450 women who gave birth between 2016 and 2019 and found that those with higher levels of glyphosate during mid-pregnancy were more likely to go into spontaneous labor — which means going into labor naturally before 37 weeks rather than being medically induced — compared to those with lower levels.

Preterm birth is a leading cause of illness and death in newborns. Premature babies can face a range of health problems, including infections and long-term learning and developmental challenges.

The participants were planning to give birth at New York City hospitals, far from agricultural fields, suggesting exposure likely came from food. “It’s not like these are in agricultural populations where there’s wide-scale spraying and air migration of the herbicide residues,” said Dr. Leonardo Trasande, senior author of the study and professor of pediatrics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Buckley noted that glyphosate exposure is not something people can necessarily avoid. “Glyphosate exposure is fundamentally a systems problem. Real reductions require policy decisions about how and where glyphosate is used,” Buckley said. “While diet can influence personal exposure, changes like choosing organic foods are not equally available to everyone. Individual choices can’t replace upstream actions that prevent the risk of being exposed in the first place.”

The study comes a month after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Monsanto, now owned by Bayer, limiting consumer lawsuits against pesticide companies. The ruling in the case, Monsanto v Durnell, found that pesticide companies cannot be held liable for omitting cancer warnings as long as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deemed those warnings unnecessary.

In February, the Trump administration signed an executive order protecting production of the glyphosate. The order was widely criticized by public health and environmental groups.

Bayer did not respond to requests for comment on the new study. 

Trasande believes the results shown in the study highlight the need for stronger regulations to protect the health of pregnant women and infants, two groups especially vulnerable to chemicals in the environment. “It certainly adds further support to the need for individual level, as well as societal level, changes in what we eat and how we produce [food].”

Featured Image by Eduardo Ramos on Unsplash