Differential effects of glyphosate and roundup on human placental cells and aromatase
Open accessAbstract
Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide used worldwide, including on most genetically modified plants that have been designed to tolerate it. Its residues may thus enter the food chain, and glyphosate is found as a contaminant in rivers. Some agricultural workers using glyphosate have pregnancy problems, but its mechanism of action in mammals is questioned. Here we show that glyphosate is toxic to human placental JEG3 cells within 18 hr with concentrations lower than those found with agricultural use, and this effect increases with concentration and time or in the presence of Roundup adjuvants. Surprisingly, Roundup is always more toxic than its active ingredient. We tested the effects of glyphosate and Roundup at lower nontoxic concentrations on aromatase, the enzyme responsible for estrogen synthesis. The glyphosate-based herbicide disrupts aromatase activity and mRNA levels and interacts with the active site of the purified enzyme, but the effects of glyphosate are facilitated by the Roundup formulation in microsomes or in cell culture. We conclude that endocrine and toxic effects of Roundup, not just glyphosate, can be observed in mammals. We suggest that the presence of Roundup adjuvants enhances glyphosate bioavailability and/or bioaccumulation.
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R has been shown to disrupt aromatase which synthesizes estrogens, but also to interfere with estrogen and androgen receptors in cells.
“R has been shown to disrupt aromatase which synthesizes estrogens (Richard et al., 2005), but to also interfere with estrogen and androgen receptors in cells (Gasnier et al., 2009).”
From RETRACTED: Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize (2012) · cites this paper as Richard et al., 2005
R with adjuvants has been shown to disrupt aromatase, which synthesizes estrogen, and to interfere with estrogen and androgen receptors in cells.
“In addition, R with adjuvants has been shown to disrupt aromatase, which synthesizes estrogen [19], and to interfere with estrogen and androgen receptors in cells [8].”
From Republished study: long-term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerantgenetically modified maize (2014) · cites this paper as [19]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Richard, S., Moslemi, S., Sipahutar, H., Benachour, N., & Seralini, G.-E.
- Affiliations
- Université de Caen Normandie (FR)
- ORCID
- Sipahutar, Herbert
- Venue
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2005-02-25
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 716-720
- ISSN
- 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-9924
- PMC
- PMC1257596
- OpenAlex
- W2147373429
- Cited by
- 619
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 56 · 2017: 39 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 19.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor, 4690 d)
- Locations
- Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- glyphosate, Roundup, herbicide toxicity, placental cells, JEG-3 cells, aromatase, estrogen synthesis, endocrine disruption, bioavailability, bioaccumulation, placental toxicity, genetically modified crops
- MeSH terms
- Glyphosate, Adjuvants, Pharmaceutic, Aromatase, Cell Survival, Drug Synergism, Female, Glycine, Herbicides, Humans, Microsomes, Oxidoreductases, RNA, Messenger, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Cell Line, Tumor
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