Correlation between urinary glyphosate levels and serum antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids in a representative sample of U.S. adults: NHANES 2017–2018

Glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are linked to various health concerns. Prior experimental studies have hinted at their potential to trigger health issues through increased oxidative stress, with some evidence from epidemiological studies; however, these studies focused on specific groups with small sample sizes, and there's a lack of research on the association between glyphosate exposure and serum antioxidants in a nationally representative sample. We examined data from the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which included 1469 adults (aged 18-85 years, 49.6 % female), to investigate the relationship between urinary glyphosate levels and serum concentrations of vitamin C, two forms of vitamin E, and eight carotenoids. Our analysis uncovered a negative correlation between urinary glyphosate levels and serum concentrations of three carotenoids (α-carotene, α-cryptoxanthin, and β-cryptoxanthin), along with ΣCarotenoids (the sum of these three carotenoids), with a β coefficient of -2.014, S.E. = 0.742, and P = 0.016 for ΣCarotenoids in the final model. We specifically noted a significant decline in the average concentrations of α-cryptoxanthin, β-cryptoxanthin, and ΣCarotenoids as glyphosate quartiles increased, with corresponding P-values for trend of 0.007, 0.027, and 0.020, respectively. Moreover, interactions between gender and glyphosate, along with interactions between body mass index (BMI) and glyphosate, were noted in relation to the impact these interactions on ΣCarotenoids. In this extensive examination of NHANES data, our research uncovers a potential adverse link between glyphosate exposure and serum carotenoid levels among adults. Our findings emphasize the necessity for additional research into the health implications of glyphosate exposure and its potential role in oxidative stress, thereby highlighting potential implications for community health.