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'''Glyphosate''', ''N''-phosphonomethyl glycine, is broad-spectrum herbicide, sold under the brand name [[Roundup]]classified as an [[organophosphorus herbicide]]<ref>[http://www.alanwood.net/pesticides/class_herbicides.html Classification of Herbicides], Accessed August 9, 2012. It </ref> and it is "the most widely used broad-spectrum herbicide on <nowiki>[a]</nowiki> global scale."<ref>Tsehaye Tesfamariam, S. Bott, I. Cakmak, V. Römheld, G. Neumann, "[http://stopogm.net/webfm_send/53 Glyphosate in the rhizosphere – role of waiting times and different glyphosate binding forms in soils for phytoxicity to non-target plants]," ''European Journal of Agronomy (2009), 31:126-132.</ref> Glyphosate was labelled a probable human carcinogen, hazardous to workers and consumers, by the World Health Organization in 2015. "The new classification by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, is based on research on human exposure in the U.S., Canada and Sweden and on animal studies that found what the agency called “convincing evidence” that the chemical caused cancer in laboratory animals."<ref>Environmental Working Group, Press Release, [World Health Organization Labels Glyphosate Probable Carcinogen http://www.ewg.org/release/world-health-organization-labels-glyphosate-probable-carcinogen], March 20, 2015.</ref>  Commercial formulations of glyphosate were first sold in 1974.<ref>John P. Giesy, Stuard Dobson, and Keith R. Solomon, 2000, "[http://www.colby.edu/biology/BI402B/Giesy%20et%20al%202000.pdf Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment for Roundup Herbicide]," Rev Environ Contam Toxicol 167:35-120.</ref> Some [[genetically engineered crops]], called [[Roundup Ready Crops]], have their DNA altered to allow them to withstand glyphosate. These include [[Roundup Ready soybeans]], [[Roundup Ready corn|corn]], [[Roundup Ready canola|canola]], [[Roundup Ready sugarbeets|sugarbeets]], and [[Roundup Ready alfalfa|alfalfa]]. Due to the overuse of glyphosate based herbicides, many weeds have evolved [[Glyphosate Resistant Weeds|resistance to glyphosate]].

Concerns about safety A 2010 study found that low doses of glyphosate cause birth defects in frogs and chickens. The study was undertaken due to "reports of neural defects and craniofacial malformations from regions where [glyphosate based herbicides] are used heavily."<ref>Paganelli, A., Gnazzo, V. et al. 2010. Glyphosate-based herbicides produce teratogenic effects on vertebrates by impairing retinoic acid signaling. Chem Res Toxicol 23(10): 1586–1595.</ref> The study cited previous research on glyphosate based herbicides, noting: * Two 2002 studies found that surfactants in glyphosate formations facilitate penetration of glyphosate through cell membranes.<ref>Haefs, R., Schmitz-Eiberger, M., Mainx, H. G., Mittelstaedt, W., and Noga, G. (2002) Studies on a new group of biodegradable surfactants for glyphosate. Pest. Manag. Sci. 58, 825–833.</ref><ref>Marc, J., Mulner-Lorillon, O., Boulben, S., Hureau, D., Durand, G., and Belle, R. (2002) Pesticide Roundup provokes cell division dysfunction at the level of CDK1/cyclin B activation. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 15, 326–331.</ref>* A 2005 study found that a glyphosate based herbicide act as an endocrine disruptor in a culture of placental cells.<ref>Richard, S., Moslemi, S., Sipahutar, H., Benachour, N., and Seralini, G. E. (2005) Differential effects of glyphosate and roundup on human placental cells and aromatase. EnViron Health Perspect 113, 716– 720.</ref> ("GBH acts as an endocrine disruptor in cultures of JEG3 placental cells, decreasing the mRNA levels of the enzyme CYP19 (an essential component of cytochrome p450 aromatase) and inhibiting its activity. CYP19 is responsible for the irreversible conversion of androgens into estrogens. The GBH Roundup is able to disrupt aromatase activity. Importantly, the active principle glyphosate interacts with the active site of the purified enzyme and its effects in cell cultures, and microsomes are facilitated by other components in the Roundup formulation that presumably increase the bioavailability of glyphosate."<ref name="Paganelli2010">Paganelli, A., Gnazzo, V. et al. 2010. Glyphosate-based herbicides produce teratogenic effects on vertebrates by impairing retinoic acid signaling. Chem Res Toxicol 23(10): 1586–1595.</ref>)* Two 2009 studies found that glyphosate and its commercial formulations "severely affect embryonic and placental cells, producing mitochondrial damage, necrosis, and programmed cell death by the activation of caspases 3/7 in cell culture within 24 h with doses far below those used in agriculture. Other effects observed include cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, endocrine disruption of the androgen and estrogen receptors, and DNA damage in cell lines."<ref name="Paganelli2010"/><ref>Benachour, N., and Seralini, G. E. (2009) Glyphosate formulations induce apoptosis and necrosis in human umbilical, embryonic, and placental cells. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 22, 97–105.</ref><ref>Gasnier, C., Dumont, C., Benachour, N., Clair, E., Chagnon, M. C., and Seralini, G. E. (2009) Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines. Toxicology 262, 184–191.</ref>* A study published in 2012 found that Roundup in formulation -- including glyphosate and inactive ingredients like adjuvants that help the product penetrate cells -- caused mammary and kidney tumors in rats, who were raised by given water spiked with Roundup over their entire 600-day lifespan.<ref name="Seralini2012">Gilles-Eric Séralini, Emilie Clair, Robin Mesnage, Steeve Gress, Nicolas Defarge, Manuela Malatesta, Didier Hennequin, Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, "[https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/b/bb/Seralini2012.pdf Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize]," Food and Chemical Toxicology, Available online September 19, 2012.</ref> For more, see "[[NK603#Study Links NK603 to Tumors in Rats|Study Links NK603 to Tumors in Rats]]." A 2011 report, which saidexamines industry studies and regulatory reports, claiming to show that "industry and regulators knew as long ago as the 1980s and 1990s that glyphosate causes malformations - but that this information was not made public." It says:<ref>Michael Antoniou, Mohamed Ezz El-Din Mostafa Habib, C. Vyvyan Howard, Richard C. Jennings, Carlo Leifert, Rubens Onofre Nodari, Claire Robinson, and John Fagan, "[http://www.scribd.com/doc/57277946/RoundupandBirthDefectsv5 Roundup and Birth Defects: Is the Public Being Kept in the Dark?]," Earth Open Source, June 2011.</ref>