Human poisoning with glyphosate-surfactant herbicides: Retrospective analysis of mortality outcomes of patients treated in a poison center

INTRODUCTION: The toxicity and carcinogenicity of glyphosate have long been debated. Nevertheless, the mortality rate in patients with acute glyphosate-surfactant poisoning varies across different groups.

METHODS: Between 2002 and 2020, 109 patients with glyphosate-surfactant poisoning received treatment at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Patients were stratified into two subgroups according to their prognosis: good ( n = 74) or poor ( n = 35). Baseline demographics, psychiatric comorbidities, medical complications, and laboratory data were collected, and mortality data were analyzed.

RESULTS: The patients were 54.1 ± 17.5 years of age and were mostly male (68.8%). Most patients (91.7%) ingested pesticides intentionally, and patients arrived at the hospital within 7.1 ± 12.7 h. Psychiatric comorbidities were prevalent, and the top three comorbidities were mental (71.6%), depressive (48.6%), and adjustment (14.7%) disorder. Patients with poor prognoses were older than those with good prognoses ( p = .007). Moreover, patients with poor prognoses had lower Glasgow Coma Scale scores ( p < .001) and diastolic blood pressure ( p = .008), but higher incidences of upper gastrointestinal bleeding ( p < .001), aspiration pneumonia ( p < .001), hypotension ( p < .001), hyperglycemia ( p = .002), acute kidney injury ( p < .001), and metabolic acidosis ( p < .001) than patients with good prognoses. The mortality rate was 5.5%. A multivariate-logistic-regression model revealed that the Glasgow Coma Scale score was a significant risk factor for poor prognosis (odds ratio 0.653, confidence interval 0.427-0.998; p = .049). However, no risk factors for mortality were identified.

CONCLUSIONS: A total of 32.1% of patients with glyphosate-surfactant poisoning had poor prognoses, and 5.5% of patients died despite treatment. The mortality outcome is comparable to that of published reports from other international poison centers.