A study published in Agrochemicals found that the herbicides dicamba and 2,4-D were found in pregnant women.
The weedkillers can cause birth defects, risk of liver cancer, head circumference issues, and other ailments.
Scientists examined biomarkers of the weedkillers in women residing in the Midwestern United States between 2010-2012 and between 2020-2022 to assess whether the concentration of the herbicides has increased.
More than 10,000 pregnant women participated in the study.
The study found that “100% of the pregnant study participants had 2,4-D detected in their urine in both the 2010–2012 cohort and the 2020–2022 cohort.”
While there was a slight increase in the levels of 2,4-D between the two cohorts, the “proportion of women with dicamba detected in their urine is significantly higher in the more recent cohort,” the researchers wrote.
The findings come as “reliance on herbicides has drastically increased in the last ten years in the United States,” requiring the need to “track exposure and impacts on adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.”
A previous study revealed that pesticides are linked to the development of leukemia.
If children lived within one kilometer (0.62 miles) of a vineyard, they had an increased risk of developing cancer, according to the study.
When the area of a vineyard increased by 10%, the risk of developing cancer also increased.
