Glyphosate: North America's toxic food crops and the enduring legacy of disease

Glyphosate-based herbicides are the most widely used agricultural chemicals globally and have been widely regarded as safe due to their low acute toxicity. However, this safety paradigm has been shaped by regulatory frameworks that prioritize short-term endpoints and may overlook slower, systemic pathways to disease. In this perspective, we revisit glyphosate through a public health lens, drawing parallels with the historical trajectory of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), where early assurances of safety preceded recognition of long-term ecological and human health harms. We highlight emerging evidence linking glyphosate exposure to metabolic, inflammatory, and neurological conditions, alongside ecological disruptions that may indirectly affect human health by altering soil systems, biodiversity, and food quality. We examine how safety assumptions have been challenged by reassessment of early toxicological data, raising concerns about biases in regulatory evidence selection and the exclusion of independent academic studies. Mechanistic insights from microbiome science, epigenetics, and non-monotonic dose response relationships suggest that glyphosate's effects may manifest across generations, pathways not captured in conventional risk assessment. Glyphosate exposure is not evenly distributed where populations with close connections to land-based food systems, including Indigenous communities, face disproportionate risks, highlighting an underexamined environmental injustice. We argue that current regulatory approaches are insufficient to address the chronic disease drivers embedded in modern food systems. A systems-based framework is needed, one that incorporates microbiome and epigenetic endpoints, prioritizes long-term studies, and evaluates cumulative effects. Reframing glyphosate within this broader context is essential to inform policy, protect population health, and prevent the repetition of historical failures in environmental health governance.