Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 1 — Meta-analysis / systematic reviewPeer-reviewed

Exposure to glyphosate and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: meta-analysis and supporting evidence

Zhang, L. et al.

2019

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Summary

This meta-analysis, published in Mutation Research/Reviews, synthesises epidemiological evidence from multiple studies to quantify the association between glyphosate herbicide exposure and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The paper reportedly found that the highest exposed groups showed an approximately 41% increased risk of NHL compared with unexposed individuals, though confidence intervals and study heterogeneity are important caveats. The authors also reviewed supporting mechanistic evidence, including genotoxicity and oxidative stress data, to contextualise the epidemiological findings.

UK applicability

Although the underlying studies were conducted primarily in North American and European agricultural settings, the findings are relevant to UK regulatory discussions around glyphosate licensing, particularly given ongoing debates at the UK Health and Safety Executive and the European Chemicals Agency about glyphosate re-approval and occupational exposure standards.

Key measures

Relative risk (RR) or odds ratio (OR) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma; confidence intervals; exposure categorisation (any vs. high exposure to glyphosate)

Outcomes reported

The study examined the association between glyphosate exposure and the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), synthesising data from epidemiological studies. It reported pooled risk estimates and assessed supporting mechanistic and toxicological evidence.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Pesticides & human health
Study type
Meta-analysis
Study design
Meta-analysis
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
International
System type
Human clinical
Catalogue ID
XL0674

Topic tags

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