ABSTRACT Roundup is a widely used herbicide whose active ingredient, glyphosate, has been scrutinized for its toxicity to non-target species. This herbicide has been linked to health concerns such as cancer, infertility, organ damage, and so much more. In response to legal and public pressure, a new glyphosate-free formulation, Roundup Exclusive Formula (REF), has been introduced. This study aims to evaluate and compare the effects of Roundup Super Concentrate (RSC, glyphosate-based) and REF (glyphosate-free) on insects, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model species. Flies were anesthetized and sorted into groups of five males and five females. Each group was placed into a vial containing organic fly medium treated with either 2g/L or 5g/L of one of the Roundup formulations or in a control group exposed to no herbicide. Across 14 trials per treatment, we measured lifespan through daily mortality tracking of males and females, and climbing assays to measure neuromuscular health. Our results show that, for formulations with and without glyphosate, higher concentrations induce higher mortality, shorter median lifespan, and lower climbing performance, with no differences between males and females. These data indicate that Roundup herbicide toxicity persists even without glyphosate, affecting agricultural and near-agricultural ecosystems and ecosystem services. If this is true across insect species, consequences for pollination, and therefore agriculture, could be substantial, in addition to the health of wild ecosystems. These findings raise important questions about the safety and regulation of herbicide formulations and their potential impacts on environmental and human health. Aggregated results from many studies about glyphosate-based and non-glyphosate-based herbicides indicate that regulatory agencies should consider the toxicity of whole formulations, not just independent active ingredients, to identify synergistic effects of multiple exposures.
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