Glyphosate, a chemical used in herbicide, has been under a lot of scrutiny due to claims of being connected to cancer and a CDC study suggested a majority of Americans have been exposed.
Part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program found an herbicide linked to cancer in 80 percent of U.S. kids and adults, according to a recent survey.
The program — the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey — found in their study that many have traces of glyphosate in their urine.
Despite the controversy, the herbicide is widely used, including in the Roundup brand products.
According to the survey, 1,885 of 2,310 urine samples were positive for the chemical.
Children ranging from 6 to 18 made up almost a third of the samples.
"Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the country, yet until now we had very little data on exposure," Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement.
Traces of glyphosate has been found in a variety of foods, including hummus and chickpeas, according to Environmental Working Group.
"Children in the U.S. are regularly exposed to this cancer-causing weedkiller through the food they eat virtually every day," Temkin said.
Bayer — the manufacturer of Roundup — made a bid to shut down thousands of lawsuits regarding the weed killer’s connection to cancer. The Supreme Court rejected the bid, but the company has won four lawsuits brought by plantiffs who claimed their cancer was caused by Roundup, according to CBS News.
According to the news outlet, the Environmental Protection Agency in 2020 found that glyphosate does not pose a serious health risk and is "not likely" to cause cancer in humans, but a federal appeals court last month ordered the EPA to reexamine its findings.
However, Bayer maintains the product is safe but said that it would replace glyphosate in Roundup for residential use beginning in 2023, but products containing glyphosate will still be available for professional and farm use.
