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Is the herbicide Glyphosate causing laminitis and chronic illness in horses?

This chemical potentially pervades our horse’s environment. It could be present in the vast majority of horse foods, dietary supplements and non-organic plant based bedding. It has been found in ground- water and can travel miles in the air during crop spraying where it can be ingested by plants, animals and humans. Although apparently safe in permitted doses, Scientists have discovered that it may actually be responsible for chronic diseases in humans. Due to potentially higher levels present in the horse’s environment, could Glyphosate be responsible for loss of performance and disease in horses such as laminitis, PPID, metabolic syndrome/IR, navicular syndrome, gastric ulcers, leaky gut syndrome, sweet- itch and other immune conditions? Could it even contribute to fertility issues and premature death? Perhaps it causes gait anomalies, so-called saddle fitting issues and training problems too?

Background information

Glyphosate (the active ingredient of Roundup ®) is the most popular herbicide in the EU and increasingly throughout the world. Its use is on the increase in the last decade due to reduced costs of the chemical and the adoption of genetically modified (GM) crops (called “Roundup Ready®”) which are resistant to its toxic effects. In addition, weed resistance is leading to higher rates and frequency of application, leading to a rise in residue levels. The EU’s maximum glyphosate levels permitted in crops is set to rise as the industry anticipates greater levels used, however standards for residues in animal feed are far higher. The raise in permitted levels is not apparently related to its safety and the effects on animal health from ingestion of residues have been largely ignored.

It is difficult to get information about actual amounts of glyphosate in food and the environment as it is perceived to be non-toxic. The notion that it is safe has been popularized by Monsanto and as a consequence, farmers have not exercised caution in its application to crops. As such, during application it can be breathed in by animals and people and can drift onto nearby grazing paddocks and hay fields, and finds its way into water sources. It is inevitably found in variable amounts in manure from exposed animals as well as human and animal food sources. It has been found in the eggs, milk and meat of livestock fed permitted levels of glyphosate in their feed and even in human urine. No long term tests have been conducted on the health effects of glyphosate in humans and certainly there have been no scientific tests done on the effect of glyphosate on the health of horses.

Many crops are exposed to glyphosate; however the most influential source of potential exposure in the horse are found in soy, wheat, oats, barley, peas, corn, sugar, carrots, linseed, rapeseed, sugar-beet and even forages such as alfalfa and grass hay. The by-products and derivatives of these crops also may contain glyphosate. Management practices and proximity of horses to non-organic agricultural activity make horses especially vulnerable to glyphosate exposure.

Is glyphosate harmful?

There is sufficient research to indicate that Glyphosate may be toxic to mammals. While short term tests on rodents have shown no apparent toxicity; tests involving life-long exposure in rodents have shown a decreased lifespan, liver and kidney dysfunction and an increased risk of cancer.