Two herbicides detected in up to 98% of children may cause learning and social difficulties, study warns

A study warned that the world’s two most commonly used herbicides could cause learning difficulties, memory and social skills problems in children.

Using urine samples and performance tests from teenagers, researchers found that trace amounts of glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide in the U.S., and the most commonly used weedkiller, 24D, are linked to poorer brain function.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego found that glyphosate was present in 98 percent of the 520 samples.

People can be exposed to the chemicals through eating contaminated food or drinking water, and the substances are thought to affect pathways in the brain associated with memory and learning.

Other Research has found that glyphosate is present in up to 90 percent wheat-based products such as pizza, crackers and pasta.

Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in chronic illnesses and mental health disorders among young adults worldwide.

“Exposure to neurotoxic pollutants in the environment may play a role in this increase,” said lead study author Dr. Jose Ricardo Suarez, associate professor at UC San Diego.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego found that exposure to glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide in the United States, and the widely used weedkiller 2,4D are linked to poorer brain function in adolescents

Researchers measured concentrations of two popular herbicides in urine samples: glyphosate and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, more commonly known as 2,4D.

The urine samples were collected in 2016 from 519 children between the ages of 11 and 17 years living in the agricultural district of Pedro Moncayo, Ecuador.

Herbicides are the most widely used class of pesticides worldwide and are often used to kill weeds.

Glyphosate, used in crops such as corn and soy, is a nonselective herbicide, meaning it kills all vegetation in an area, not just weeds.

It was detected in 98 percent of participant samples.

2,4D, a herbicide used to kill leafy weeds, was detected in 66 percent of the urine samples.

The researchers also looked at the teens’ performance in five areas: attention and inhibitory control (how well you can stop impulses), memory and learning, language, spatial awareness and social cognition.

To do this, they examined the test results from 2016 and examined, for example, how quickly the children could understand a series of instructions, how well they could remember faces and how quickly they could solve shape puzzles.

Higher levels of 2,4D in urine were associated with poorer scores on tests of attention and inhibitory control, memory and learning, and language.

Urine glyphosate concentration was only associated with lower scores in social cognition.

The most widely used glyphosate product is Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer.

Following the introduction of glyphosate and 2,4D, there was a significant increase in glyphosate and 2,4D consumption genetically engineered glyphosate-resistant “Roundup-ready” plants in 1996 and 2,4D-resistant plants in 2014, the study authors said.

Bayer, the chemical company’s owner, has long maintained that exposure to the weedkiller has no negative impact on human health.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Environmental health perspectives.