Gene Expression and Therapy Group, King's College London, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, 8th Floor, Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London, SE1 9RT, UK.
Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK; Benbrook Consulting Services, Enterprise, Oregon, USA.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2019 Jun;128:137-145. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2019.03.053. Epub 2019 Apr 3.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). Other chemicals in GBHs are presumed as inert by regulatory authorities and are largely ignored in pesticide safety evaluations. We identified the surfactants in a cross-section of GBH formulations and compared their acute toxic effects. The first generation of polyethoxylated amine (POEA) surfactants (POE-tallowamine) in Roundup are markedly more toxic than glyphosate and heightened concerns of risks to human health, especially among heavily-exposed applicators. Beginning in the mid-1990s, first-generation POEAs were progressively replaced by other POEA surfactants, ethoxylated etheramines, which exhibited lower non-target toxic effects. Lingering concern over surfactant toxicity was mitigated at least in part within the European Union by the introduction of propoxylated quaternary ammonium surfactants. This class of POEA surfactants are ∼100 times less toxic to aquatic ecosystems and human cells than previous GBH-POEA surfactants. As GBH composition is legally classified as confidential commercial information, confusion concerning the identity and concentrations of co-formulants is common and descriptions of test substances in published studies are often erroneous or incomplete. In order to resolve this confusion, laws requiring disclosure of the chemical composition of pesticide products could be enacted. Research to understand health implications from ingesting these substances is required.
草甘膦是草甘膦类除草剂（GBH）的有效成分。监管机构认为 GBH 中的其他化学物质是惰性的，在农药安全评估中基本上被忽略。我们鉴定了 GBH 配方中的表面活性剂，并比较了它们的急性毒性作用。第一代聚氧乙烯胺（POEA）表面活性剂（POE-硬脂胺）在农达中的毒性明显高于草甘膦，对人类健康的风险引起了更高的关注，尤其是在大量接触的施药者中。从 20 世纪 90 年代中期开始，第一代 POEAs 逐渐被其他 POEA 表面活性剂——乙氧基醚胺所取代，后者表现出较低的非靶标毒性作用。欧盟至少部分地通过引入丙氧基季铵盐表面活性剂来减轻对表面活性剂毒性的担忧。与以前的 GBH-POEA 表面活性剂相比，这类 POEA 表面活性剂对水生生态系统和人类细胞的毒性要低约 100 倍。由于 GBH 的组成被合法地归类为机密的商业信息，因此对于共混物的身份和浓度的混淆是很常见的，而且发表的研究中对测试物质的描述往往是错误的或不完整的。为了解决这种混淆，可以制定要求披露农药产品化学成分的法律。需要研究摄入这些物质对健康的影响。
