‘No way should that be in bread’: Weed killer sprayed by pound in Florida waters

Florida first lady Casey DeSantis made national headlines this month for her health initiative’s discovery of trace amounts of the weed killer glyphosate in popular supermarket breads.

The substance — the active ingredient in Roundup — is so dangerous that it “doesn’t seem to have a safe level of exposure,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in announcing the findings.

Meanwhile, the state has sprayed more than 135,000 pounds of it in Florida’s waterways over the last decade as part of its aquatic weed-removal program.

The practice has long been controversial. In 2019, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission temporarily paused the use of glyphosate amid safety concerns. Studies have found manatees are “chronically exposed” to it and that it’s weakening their immune systems.

“It’s a completely inappropriate use of glyphosate,” said Alexandra Muñoz, an independent toxicologist who has advocated against provisions that would grant pesticide manufacturers legal immunity in state and federal courts.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who chooses the wildlife commission’s board members, has not called on the agency to stop the practice, and the commission says it has no plans to do so, although its usage has steadily decreased.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, which is carrying out the first lady’s food-testing program, did not respond when asked whether she or Ladapo wanted the commission to stop.

The mixed messaging on one of the nation’s most controversial chemicals isn’t exclusive to Florida.

U.S. Department of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made agricultural use of glyphosate one of the targets of his “Make America Healthy Again” movement. As an environmental lawyer, he represented a school groundskeeper diagnosed with cancer and won a $289 million judgment against Roundup’s manufacturer, Monsanto.

Yet last week, his campaign was dealt a blow when President Donald Trump issued an executive order to promote more domestic production of glyphosate-based herbicides in the name of “national defense.”

Kennedy defended the president’s decision, but wrote on X that herbicides remain “toxic by design” and “put Americans at risk.” Previously, he’s said he believes glyphosate causes cancer.

The danger of glyphosate is hotly debated. The federal Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates herbicides, says “there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label.”

But the Food and Drug Administration tests for it in food, using EPA guidelines that limit its exposure to no more than 100 parts per million for grains.

Casey DeSantis’ testing of eight supermarket breads found six had detectible levels of glyphosate up to 191 parts per billion, a far lower standard.

“It’s weed killer,” she said earlier this month. “There’s no way that should be in bread, full stop.”

At the same announcement, Ladapo said glyphosate has “some really insidious effects,” with research showing it harms people’s gut health, “weakens the blood-brain barrier,” and contributes to fatty liver disease.

The herbicide is so prevalent in the agriculture industry that “80% of Americans have it in their urine,” Ladapo said.

Glyphosate is one of 18 herbicides that contractors hired by Florida’s wildlife agency can use for controlling invasive aquatic plants, such as hydrilla and water hyacinth. Spraying chemicals is considered cheaper and less time-consuming than using mechanical harvesters to physically remove the plants.

The practice occurs in rivers and lakes across the state.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson Shannon Knowles said the agency’s yearly use of glyphosate has decreased nearly fourfold since 2016 as it works to find more “environmentally compatible and cost-effective” ways to curb invasive water-based plants.

Commission data shows that glyphosate distribution has fallen from nearly 43,000 pounds in 2017 to about 10,200 pounds last year.

Environmentalists and advocates have for years tried to get the state to stop.

Jim Watt, a 72-year-old retired turtle farmer from Jupiter, has spent years pulling public records and studying the latest science around aquatic herbicides, which he then brings to commission meetings and blasts out in emails to regulators.

“The practice needs to stop. It is simply unbelievable,” Watt said.

Also a sports angler, Watt said he’s watched in anger as some of Florida’s most beloved marine life species die off — and he believes the chemicals sprayed into state waters are a major culprit.

Daniel Andrews, co-founder of the advocacy group Captains for Clean Water, said the practice fuels algae blooms. When the plants are sprayed, they sit in the water and rot, releasing harmful nutrients.

But he said the bigger problem is the nutrient pollution in Florida’s waterways that creates an invasive aquatic plant problem in the first place.

“This whole concept of these herbicides, it’s like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound,” Andrews said.

Without fully investing in chemical-free methods to harvest aquatic plants, the state is left with the “necessary evil” of spraying glyphosate products and other herbicides, according to Max Epstein, a board member of the Tallahassee-based nonprofit Friends of Lake Munson Inc.

“It’s good for targeting plants, but the state just doesn’t have the budget (for funding better alternatives),” Epstein said.