Cancer-Linked Herbicide in Spotlight After Controversial Order: ‘Toxic by Design’

There has been a shakeup in the Make America Healthy Again movement regarding glyphosate, a widely used herbicide that has been the subject of significant controversy.

The debate follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump ensuring an adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides related to national defense.

MAHA supporters have previously pushed a pesticide-free agenda, warning of the potential health harms caused by glyphosate.

Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for News, said he believes there is enough evidence linking glyphosate to neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, to justify limiting exposure.

“With Parkinson’s, this association appears to be due to the gut, the vagus nerve and the brain axis, where exposure affects the microbiome in the gut, which then slowly moves up to the brain, causing the neurodegenerative disease years later,” Siegel told News Digital.

“An increasing association is also being found between high doses of glyphosate or occupational exposure and metabolic disorders, liver diseases and some cancers, specifically lymphoma.”

He added: “Mounting research supports this. I am in favor of limiting it.”

“When we apply them to millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk.”

Studies have shown that glyphosate, used in products like Monsanto-owned Roundup, could increase the risk of cancer.

In a University of Washington study published in the journal Mutation Research, researchers found that exposure to it increased the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%.

The nonprofit organization Investigate Midwest, which analyzed data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute, also recently found that pesticides may contribute to cancer rates.

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According to the report, among the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile, more than 60% had cancer rates above the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people.

Illinois-based Investigate Midwest interviewed more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, policymakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach US grant.

Iowa, which used 53 million pounds of pesticides last year, holds the national title for second-highest cancer rate.

Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, was diagnosed with cancer in 2014.

“The cancer specialist said, very directly, that (my) cancer is the result of being exposed to chemicals,” Billings said in the report.

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Kelly Ryerson, founder of Glyphosate Facts and owner of the Instagram account @glyphosategirl, told News Digital that her journey into herbicide research began with her own health issues.

Ryerson, who resides in California, previously battled chronic illnesses and autoimmune issues, which she says improved when she stopped eating gluten.

After attending a medical conference at Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center, Ryerson began to question modern agricultural practices rather than gluten itself.

“Many times, farmers spray Roundup on our beans right before harvest to make harvesting easier,” he said. “After that easier harvest, because everything is dry at the same time, those crops go straight to the mill and can end up in our food supply, at alarmingly high levels.”

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In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health Organization framework, classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

The classification was based on limited evidence of cancer in humans (particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma in some studies) and sufficient evidence in experimental animals.

A Monsanto spokesperson told News Digital that it will comply with Trump’s order to produce glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.

“President Trump’s executive order reinforces the critical need for American farmers to have access to essential domestically produced crop protection tools, such as glyphosate,” the spokesperson said.

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a vocal critic of Roundup and worked with his legal team in 2018 to award $289 million to a man who alleged the herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to reports.

Following the backlash to Trump’s executive order, Kennedy said he supports the order but acknowledged that “pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, designed to kill living organisms.”

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“When we apply them on millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk,” he posted on

News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.