The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alongside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), launched a coordinated effort to expand the review of the herbicide glyphosate.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding, the agencies will exchange information and research to assess potential health effects of the chemical. Since research into glyphosate began in 2020, a “significant amount of additional research has been conducted on not just potential carcinogenic effects of exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) but also regarding potential reproductive, developmental, metabolic, microbiome, and other biological effects,” the memo says. “EPA’s current registration review provides an important opportunity to reassess the health risks of glyphosate and GBHs considering all available scientific evidence.”
“Americans have a right to know what the best science tells us about the chemicals they encounter in their food, workplaces, and environment,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “We are bringing the scientific resources of HHS to the table to answer unresolved questions, strengthen the evidence, and give EPA the data it needs to conduct a rigorous review. We will ask the hard questions, demand sound science, and follow the evidence wherever it leads. This partnership advances President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda by putting the health of the American people first.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin similarly said that the agreement “addresses potential gaps in the record.” He explained that his agency will “evaluate the relevant evidence, address important scientific questions, and show our work, providing insight into how the science informs our decisions, as we always do, to conduct the most transparent and thorough review possible.”
Although glyphosate is believed to be linked to health issues, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to ramp up domestic production of phosphorus and glyphosate, citing food security and national defense. A key ingredient in glyphosate, phosphorus, is also used in military munitions and semiconductors.
