Publication Date
8-2024
Date of Final Oral Examination (Defense)
3-29-2024
Type of Culminating Activity
Thesis
Degree Title
Master of Public Health
Department
Public and Population Health
Supervisory Committee Chair
Cynthia Curl, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
Uwe Reischl, Ph.D.
Supervisory Committee Member
Carly Hyland, Ph.D.
Abstract
The herbicide glyphosate is the most heavily used agricultural chemical in the world, and exposure has been linked to carcinogenic and reproductive effects, although this remains controversial. Glyphosate has a short biologic half-life, challenging the assessment of associations between chronic exposure and potential health effects. Long-term glyphosate exposure has often been evaluated using a single urine sample, potentially resulting in exposure misclassification and resulting in systematic underestimation of the association between glyphosate exposure and health outcomes. To determine the minimum number of urine samples required to accurately characterize chronic glyphosate exposure during pregnancy, we collected and analyzed 453 urine samples from a cohort of 40 pregnant women (average samples per participant = 11). Utilizing this original dataset, I assigned the participants included in this study to a quartile of exposure using their specific gravity-adjusted geometric mean glyphosate concentrations, which I considered their “true” quartile assignment. Using bootstrap resampling, I randomly selected limited numbers of urine samples from each participant to build new bootstrapped datasets. I then compared the agreement rate between the quartile assignment in the bootstrapped datasets and the original quartile assignment. These results will inform future glyphosate by increasing our understanding of the number of urine samples required to accurately assess chronic exposure.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18122/td.2307.boisestate
Recommended Citation
Gimenez, Jianna, "Assessing Chronic Exposure to Glyphosate Using Urine Analysis" (2024). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 2307.
https://doi.org/10.18122/td.2307.boisestate