Access HHRA and Heartland Study papers and presentations here, as well as selected publications from our science team members. See our Blog for news and commentary, and our extensive project bibliography for a more complete list of papers by our science team members.
HHRA and Heartland Study Publications
- Daggy JK, Haas DM, Yu Y, Monahan PO, Guise D, Gaudreau É, Larose J, Benbrook CM. Dicamba and 2,4-D in the Urine of Pregnant Women in the Midwest: Comparison of Two Cohorts (2010–2012 vs. 2020–2022). Agrochemicals. 2024; 3(1):42-56. https://doi.org/10.3390/agrochemicals3010005
- Freisthler, M., Winchester, P. W., Young, H. A., & Haas, D. M. (2023). Perinatal health effects of herbicides exposures in the United States: The Heartland Study, a Midwestern birth cohort study. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2308. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17171-9.
- Larose, J., Bienvenu, J.-F., Bélanger, P., Gaudreau, É., Yu, Y., & Guise, D. M. (2023). New sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of 13 phenolic and carboxylic acid pesticide biomarkers in human urine, including dicamba. Chemosphere, 344, 140349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140349
- Benbrook C, Mesnage R, & Sawyer W; “Genotoxicity Assays Published since 2016 Shed New Light on the Oncogenic Potential of Glyphosate-Based Herbicides;” Agrochemicals, 2023, 2(1):47-68. https://doi.org/10.3390/agrochemicals2010005
- Benbrook, Charles; “Tracking pesticide residues and risk levels in individual samples—insights and applications;” Environmental Sciences Europe, 2022, 34(1); DOI: 10.1186/s12302-022-00636-w.
- Freisthler, M. S., Robbins, C. R., Benbrook, C. M., Young, H. A., Haas, D. M., Winchester, P. D., & Perry, M. J.; “Association between increasing agricultural use of 2,4-D and population biomarkers of exposure: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001-2014;” Environmental Health, 2022, 21(1), 23
- Benbrook, Charles, Perry, Melissa J., Belpoggi, Fiorella, Landrigan, Philip J., Perro, Michelle, Mandrioli, Daniele, Antoniou, Michael N., Winchester, Paul, & Mesnage, Robin; “Commentary: Novel strategies and new tools to curtail the health effects of pesticides;” Environmental Health, 2021, 20(1); DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00773-4.
- Benbrook, Charles, Kegley, Susan, & Baker, Brian; “Organic Farming Lessens Reliance on Pesticides and Promotes Public Health by Lowering Dietary Risks;” Agronomy, 2021, 11(7); DOI: 10.3390/agronomy11071266.
- Benbrook, Charles, & Benbrook, Rachel (2021). “A minimum data set for tracking changes in pesticide use.” In R. Mesnage & J. Zaller (Eds.), Herbicides: Elsevier and RTI Press.
- Benbrook, Charles M., & Davis, Donald R.; “The dietary risk index system: a tool to track pesticide dietary risks;” Environmental Health, 2020, 19(1); DOI: 10.1186/s12940-020-00657-z.
- Benbrook, Charles; “How did the US EPA and IARC reach diametrically opposed conclusions on the genotoxicity of glyphosate-based herbicides?;” Environmental Sciences Europe, 2019, 31(1); DOI: 10.1186/s12302-018-0184-7.
- Parvez, S., Gerona, R. R., Proctor, C., Friesen, M., Ashby, J. L., Reiter, J. L., Lui, Z., & Winchester, P. D.; “Glyphosate exposure in pregnancy and shortened gestational length: a prospective Indiana birth cohort study;” Environmental Health, 2018, 17(1), 23; DOI: 10.1186/s12940-018-0367-0.
HHRA Presentations
- “Dealing with the Public Health Consequences of the Herbicide Use Treadmill“, March 2023
- “Meet the Santillans: Co-PIs of the Heartland Study Site at the University of Iowa Hospital,” March 2023
- “Introducing the Heartland Health Research Alliance,” November 2020
- Charles Benbrook, HHRA Executive Director: “Herbicides and Public Health in Iowa – Elections Have Consequences,” Presentation to the Pesticide Drift Workshop at NFU’s Annual Meeting, December 3, 2020
- “Glyphosate and Autism: Is the world’s #1 herbicide contributing to the autism epidemic?,” November, 2020
Presentations from the HHRA-moderated session “Herbicides and Birth Outcomes” at the 2022 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA)
Select Publications by Our Scientists
Heartland Study Co-Principal Investigators
Heartland Study Research Collaborators
Click each name to open selected papers in our bibliography.
- Michael Antoniou and Robin Mesnage, King’s College, London
- Fiorella Belpoggi and Daniele Mandrioli
- Antonia Calafat, Centers For Disease Control, Georgia
- Asa Bradman, UC Berkley Cooperative Extension, California
- John Fagan, Heath Research Institute, Iowa
- Jill Reiter, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana
NOTE: Click on the science team member’s name to pull up additional citations from the project bibliography
Fiorella Belpoggi
Landrigan, P. J., and Belpoggi, F.; “The need for independent research on the health effects of glyphosate-based herbicides;” Environmental Health, 17(1), 51, 2018; doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0392-z.
Manservisi, Fabiana, Lesseur, Corina, Panzacchi, Simona, Mandrioli, Daniele, Falcioni, Laura, Bua, Luciano, Manservigi, Marco, Spinaci, Marcella, Galeati, Giovanna, Mantovani, Alberto, Lorenzetti, Stefano, Miglio, Rossella, Andrade, Anderson Martino, Kristensen, David Møbjerg, Perry, Melissa J., Swan, Shanna H., Chen, Jia, & Belpoggi, Fiorella; “The Ramazzini Institute 13-week pilot study glyphosate-based herbicides administered at human-equivalent dose to Sprague Dawley rats: effects on development and endocrine system;” Environmental Health, 2019, 18(1); DOI:10.1186/s12940-019-0453-y.
Mao, Q., Manservisi, F., Panzacchi, S., Mandrioli, D., Menghetti, I., Vornoli, A., Bua, L., Falcioni, L., Lesseur, C., Chen, J., Belpoggi, F., & Hu, J.; “The Ramazzini Institute 13-week pilot study on glyphosate and Roundup administered at human-equivalent dose to Sprague Dawley rats: effects on the microbiome;” Environmental Health, 17(1), 50, 2018; doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0394-x.
Panzacchi, S., Mandrioli, D., Manservisi, F., Bua, L., Falcioni, L., Spinaci, M., Galeati, G., Dinelli, G., Miglio, R., Mantovani, A., Lorenzetti, S., Hu, J., Chen, J., Perry, M. J., Landrigan, P. J., & Belpoggi, F.; “The Ramazzini Institute 13-week study on glyphosate-based herbicides at human-equivalent dose in Sprague Dawley rats: study design and first in-life endpoints evaluation;” Environmental Health, 17(1), 52, 2018; doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0393-y.
Charles Benbrook
Benbrook, C. 2016. Enhancements Needed in GE Crop and Food Regulation in the U.S, Frontiers in Public Health, Environmental Section, Vol 4, Article 59.
Charles M. Benbrook, “Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally,” Environmental Sciences Europe, 2016, 28:3.
Peterson Myers, J, Michael N. Antoniou, Bruce Blumberg, Lynn Carroll, Theo Colborn, Lorne G. Everett, Michael Hansen, Philip J. Landrigan, Bruce P. Lanphear, Robin Mesnage, Laura N. Vandenberg, Frederick S. vom Saal, Wade V. Welshons and Charles M. Benbrook. Concerns over use of glyphosate-based herbicides and risks associated with exposures: a consensus statement. Environmental Health, 2016, 15:19, DOI: 10.1186/s12940-016-0117-0.
Laura N Vandenberg, Bruce Blumberg, Michael N Antoniou, Charles M Benbrook, Lynn Carroll, Theo Colborn, Lorne G Everett, Michael Hansen, Philip J Landrigan, Bruce P Lanphear, Robin Mesnage, Frederick S vom Saal, Wade V Welshons, John Peterson Myers, “Is it time to reassess current safety standards for glyphosate-based herbicides?”, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2017, 0
John Brock
Duty, S. M., Singh, N. P., Silva, M. J., Barr, D. B., Brock, J. W., Ryan, L., Herrick, R. F., Christiani, D. C., & Hauser, R.; “The relationship between environmental exposures to phthalates and DNA damage in human sperm using the neutral comet assay;” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2003, 111(9), 1164-1169; DOI: 10.1289/ehp.5756.
Silva, M. J., Malek, N. A., Hodge, C. C., Reidy, J. A., Kato, K., Barr, D. B., Needham, L. L., & Brock, J. W.; “Improved quantitative detection of 11 urinary phthalate metabolites in humans using liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry;” Journal of Chromatography Part B: Analytical Technologies in the Biomedical and Life Sciences, 2003, 789(2), 393-404.
Wenzel, A. G., Brock, J. W., Cruze, L., Newman, R. B., Unal, E. R., Wolf, B. J., Somerville, S. E., & Kucklick, J. R.; “Prevalence and predictors of phthalate exposure in pregnant women in Charleston, SC;” Chemosphere, 2018, 193, 394-402; DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.11.019.
Michael Hansen
Hansen, M, “National Academies of Sciences report on GE Crops Notes Broad Reasons for GMO Labeling,” Consumers Union, 2016.
Hansen, M, “Testimony on HB 1674, a Bill to Require Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food ,” Before the New Hampshire House Environment and Agriculture Committee, January 26, 2016.
Richard Jackson
Jackson RJ, Malloy TF, “Environmental public health law: three pillars,” The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 2011; 39 Suppl 1: 34-6.
Jackson RJ, Minjares R, Naumoff KS, Patel BS, Martin LK, “Agriculture Policy is Health Policy,” Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 2009; 4(3): 393-408.
Philip Landrigan
Laborde A, Tomasina F, Bianchi F, Bruné MN, Buka I, Comba P, Corra L, Cori L, Duffert CM, Harari R, Iavarone I, McDiarmid MA, Gray KA, Sly PD, Soares A, Suk WA, Landrigan PJ, “Children’s Health in Latin America: The Influence of Environmental Exposures,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2015 Mar; 123(3).
Landrigan, Philip J, & Goldman, Lynn R; “Children’s vulnerability to toxic chemicals: a challenge and opportunity to strengthen health and environmental policy;” Health Affairs, 2011, 30(5), 842-850; DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0151.
Landrigan, Philip, Charles Benbrook. “GMOs, Herbicides, and Public Health,” New England Journal of Medicine, 2015, 373:8.
Panzacchi, S., Mandrioli, D., Manservisi, F., Bua, L., Falcioni, L., Spinaci, M., Galeati, G., Dinelli, G., Miglio, R., Mantovani, A., Lorenzetti, S., Hu, J., Chen, J., Perry, M. J., Landrigan, P. J., & Belpoggi, F. “The Ramazzini Institute 13-week study on glyphosate-based herbicides at human-equivalent dose in Sprague Dawley rats: study design and first in-life endpoints evaluation,” Environmental Health, 17(1), 52, 2018. doi:10.1186/s12940-018-0393-y.
Bruce Lanphear
Donauer, Stephanie, Mekibib Altaye, Yingying Xu, Heidi Sucharew, Paul Succop, Antonia M. Calafat, Jane C. Khoury, Bruce Lanphear, Kimberly Yolton, “An Observational Study to Evaluate Associations Between Low-Level Gestational Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and Cognition During Early Childhood,” American Journal of Epidemiology, 2016, 184:5.
Lanphear, Bruce, “The Impact of Toxins on the Developing Brain,” Annual Review of Public Health, 2015, 36:1.
Wagner-Schuman M, Richardson JR, Auinger P, Braun JM, Lanphear BP, Epstein JN, Yolton K, Froehlich TE., “Association of pyrethroid pesticide exposure with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children,”Environmental Health, 2015, 14:44.
Michelle Perro
Perro, Michelle, “Childhood Leukemia, the Microbiome, and Glyphosate: A Doctor’s Perspective,” GMOScience.org, January 15, 2019.
Perro, Michelle and Adams, Vincanne, “What’s Making Our Children Sick? How Industrial Food Is Causing an Epidemic of Chronic Illness, and What Parents (and Doctors) Can Do About It,” Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017.
Melissa Perry
Andria M. Cimino, Abee L. Boyles, Kristina A. Thayer, and Melissa J. Perry, “Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Exposure on Human Health: A Systematic Review,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2017, 125:2
Melissa J. Perry, Anne Marbella, Peter M. Layde, “Nonpersistent Pesticide Exposure Self-report versus Biomonitoring in Farm Pesticide Applicators,” Annals of Epidemiology, 2006, 16:9.
Melissa J. Perry, Scott A. Venners, Xing Chen, Xue Liu, Genfu Tang, Houxun Xing, Dana Boyd Barr, Xiping Xu, “Organophosphorous pesticide exposures and sperm quality,” Reproductive Toxicology, 2011, 31:1.
Heather A Young, John D Meeker, Sheena E Martenies, Zaida I Figueroa, Dana Boyd Barr and Melissa J Perry, “Environmental exposure to pyrethroids and sperm sex chromosome disomy: a cross-sectional study,” Environmental Health, 2013, 12:111, DOIL 10.1186/1476-069X-12-111.
Paul Winchester
Markel TA, Proctor C, Ying J, Winchester PD, “Environmental pesticides increase the risk of developing hypertrophic pyloric stenosis,” Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 2015, 50:8.
McBirney, M., King, S. E., Pappalardo, M., Houser, E., Unkefer, M., Nilsson, E., Sadler-Riggleman, I., Beck, D., Winchester, P., & Skinner, M. K., “Atrazine Induced Epigenetic Transgenerational Inheritance of Disease, Lean Phenotype and Sperm Epimutation Pathology Biomarkers,” Plos One, 2017, 12(9), e0184306; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184306. Also see this presentation of their findings.
Winchester, Paul D, Jordan Huskins, Jun Ying, “Agrichemicals in surface water and birth defects in the United States,” Acta Paediatrica, 2009, 98:4.
Winchester, Paul, Cathy Proctor, and Jun Ying, “County‐level pesticide use and risk of shortened gestation and preterm birth,”Acta Paediatrica, 2016, 105:3.