Glyphosate testing – Urine

1) We use advanced triple quadrupole mass spectrometry linked to ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography, in short, UPLC-MS/MS. This is the gold standard methodology for quantitative measurement of herbicide and other agrochemical residues. All LC-MS/MS is not equal. We have invested the money required to obtain very high sensitivity, and quantitatively accurate equipment.

2) The quality of our equipment assures that we can test to more sensitive limits of detection with greater quantitative accuracy than can many other labs.

3) Most labs don’t use the full capacity of their equipment but set up their methods to detect only to the thresholds set by regulatory authorities such as FDA, EPA and USDA. These agencies by and large, set thresholds, based on business convenience of agrochemical companies (they have a legion of lobbyists influencing regulators in Washington DC)

4) We optimize the steps of the analytical procedure to maximize sensitivity, which allows us to test to limits of detection relevant to health and safety. For instance, the EPA sets regulatory thresholds for glyphosate in various foods in the ppm range.

5) Research has been published in peer reviewed journals showing that exposure at more than ten-thousand-fold lower can cause Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in lab animals. There’s no research on this in humans yet but the story is likely to be similar. There’s also toxicological and epidemiological evidence that glyphosate causes non-Hodgekins lymphoma and other kinds of cancer, liver and kidney disease, and birth defects.

So the key point is that low levels of glyphosate are harmful and therefore testing at low levels is important.

AND… In addition  your test includes AMPA (Aminomethylphosphonic acid) which is the primary metabolite, or breakdown product of glyphosate. It is often found after glyphosate passes through the body. Some scientists consider it equally toxic or more than glyphosate, so it is important to test for both. We test for it at no additional charge.