The chemical Maga fears is making us infertile

Telegraph

15-05-2025

'Millions of Americans who want clean air, clean water and a healthy nation have concerns about toxins in our environment and pesticides in our food,' Donald Trump said at a rally in Arizona last August.
On Thursday, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, will preview a report into potential causes of chronic illness in children, including lack of exercise, screen time and pesticides.
The report has largely been co-ordinated by Calley Means, a wellness influencer in the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement and the brother of Mr Trump's new pick for surgeon general, Dr Casey Means.
Announcing Dr Means's nomination, the president touted her as having 'amazing Maha credentials'.
The physician-turned-wellness influencer and holistic farming advocate is just one of many in Mr Trump's orbit pushing for the phasing out of glyphosate – the world's most common weed killer and the main ingredient in the pesticide Roundup.
Glyphosate has been considered 'probably' a carcinogen by the World Health Organisation since 2015, although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the US says it is not cancer-casing.
Dr Means, a key ally of Mr Kennedy's, is also concerned about the chemical's link to infertility and sperm reduction.
She wrote in a newsletter last year: 'I want to share how your health (and your family's health) can be transformed by learning about – and reducing – exposure to pesticides.
'Too many people are sick right now, from kids with autism, ADHD and asthma, to middle-aged friends with infertility, gut issues, and anxiety, to older friends with cancer and early dementia.
'Some of the most commonly used pesticides… promote the conversion of testosterone to oestrogen, which can have negative effects in women (like increased breast cancer risk, infertility), men (depletion of testosterone, infertility), and foetuses (birth defects).'
Views on glyphosate backed by science
Posting to Instagram, the Maha influencer wrote last year: 'Chronic diseases and infertility are largely rooted in the same thing: metabolic dysfunction from cells that are broken due to a toxic industrial world…
'The single most effective strategy that I believe can solve the most pressing human health issues… is restoring sustainable agriculture practices that contribute to biodiverse soil and nutrient-rich food, and moving away from industrial agriculture that uses toxic synthetic pesticides.'
Mr Trump, and the wider Maha movement is concerned over an apparent decline in fertility in recent decades.
Mr Trump has even referred to himself as the 'fertilisation president'.
In a post on her blog, Dr Means claims that, since the 1970s 'cumulatively, we're looking at a 50 [to] 60 per cent decline in total fertility rate, testosterone, and sperm counts'.
While several factors can influence these rates, The World Economic Forum estimates there has been a 50 per cent decrease in fertility in the last 70 years.
Other studies cite a significant drop in testosterone and sperm count during the same period.
Although Dr Means's nomination has faced pushback in recent days, with Trump cheerleader Laura Loomer calling her 'a total crackpot' owing to her inactive medical licence, her views on glyphosate appear to be backed by science.
A review published earlier this year in the journal Reproductive Sciences suggested exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) could disrupt female hormones, cause uterine and ovary damage, and increase infertility or miscarriage.
The study also connected the conditions of endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome with the chemical.
The team of scientists, from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, said: 'These GBH-induced alterations in uterine architecture and morphology may contribute to infertility, early pregnancy loss, and endometrial hyperplasia.'
'Negative impact on reproductive health'
Meanwhile, in a separate study of sperm taken from infertile men at Centre de fertilité Pôle Santé Léonard de Vinci in Chambray-lès-Tours, France, last year, more than 55 per cent of samples were found to contain high levels of glyphosate.
A link was also found between the chemical and oxidative stress on seminal plasma, which can impair sperm vitality.
'Taken together, our results suggest a negative impact on glyphosate on human reproductive health and possibly on offspring,' wrote the authors of the study, conducted in partnership with the University De Tours and the University De Limoges, and published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
People particularly at risk were those who ate non-organic produce, agricultural workers and smokers, the study concluded.
'Glyphosate impacts male reproductive systems'
Another health influencer campaigning for the phase-out of glyphosate and adoption of regenerative agriculture is Kelly Ryerson, also known to her 62,500 Instagram followers as The Glyphosate Girl.
'Glyphosate impacts male reproductive systems by disrupting hormonal balance, decreasing sperm quality and quantity and causing testicular damage,' claims Ms Ryerson.
'Glyphosate also disrupts key pregnancy hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, and has been linked to damage to ovarian and uterine structures. Studies also connect glyphosate to alterations in blood vessel formation and embryo implantation.
'With the crash in sperm quantity and rising levels of women unable to get pregnant or stay pregnant through term, it is critical that our regulators fast-track the assessment of the impact of glyphosate on fertility,' she told The Telegraph.
And it is not just in the US that concerns over the chemical are growing.
'The effect of glyphosate on humans and animals is indirect,' said Dr Amy Godfrey, a doctor who formerly worked with the NHS.
She said that, because the chemical works by inhibiting an enzyme not present in animals and humans, 'we assumed from a biochemical standpoint that it was safe'.
After years of seeing the downstream health effects of agriculture and the food system, Dr Godfrey changed careers to drive change in the food system.
She is now head of research for The First Thirty, a venture capital firm investing in agriculture and health.
'This perceived safety is one of many gross simplifications we see in the connection between agriculture and human health,' she said, adding that 'the potential impact of glyphosate on our gut microbiome is huge'.
As for its effect on human fertility, Dr Godfrey points to animal studies which suggest glyphosate acts as a disruptor to the body's endocrine system, which is responsible for hormone production.
'Rats and mice exposed to glyphosate show increased rates of embryonic resorption, which is a proxy for early miscarriage, altered progesterone levels, dysfunctional implantation [and] structural changes in the ovaries and uterus,' she told The Telegraph.
More than 180,000 lawsuits
Roundup, which contains glyphosate as an active ingredient was acquired by Bayer, the pharmaceutical company, in 2018.
According to Bayer's website, as of Jan 31 2025, 114,000 out of approximately 181,000 glyphosate-related lawsuits 'have been resolved or deemed to be ineligible'.
In his past career as a lawyer, Mr Kennedy helped to secure a $289 million payout for a groundskeeper who developed cancer after working with a glyphosate-based weed killer.
As concern continues to grow regarding the impact of pesticides on human health, and amid the EPA's failure to restrict or prohibit such chemicals, widely banned by other nations, individual towns and communities are taking matters into their own hands.
Some states, like New York, have banned the use of glyphosate on public property, while other cities and counties such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, Austin and Portland have taken action to restrict or ban the substance.
However, glyphosate is still the most commonly used herbicide used on soybean, corn and cotton.
In the US, about 280 million pounds of glyphosate are applied annually to around 298 million acres of cropland to control broadleaf, sedge, grass and weeds.
Bayer has repeatedly insisted that Roundup is safe and has been tested extensively.