THE GLYPHOSATE CONTROVERSY RAGES ON IN 2019
Last year, an environmental and advocacy group published findings that indicated popular cereals and other breakfast foods contained traces of the herbicide glyphosate. This finding raised further unease that the chemical glyphosate found in these everyday foods could be posing disturbing health risks. Elevated levels of glyphosate are suspected of causing cancer in humans according to some organizations, and is central to the debate about the continued use of glyphosate with crops. The world is responding to mounting concern that glyphosate, which is the main ingredient in the most widely used weed killer on the planet, Roundup, can be increasing the risk of cancer in humans.
As 2019 unfolds, the controversy continues to swell in countries around the globe. In January, French authorities banned the sale, distribution and use of Roundup Pro 360, citing a court ruling that said ANSES, the French food and environmental safety agency, should have taken potential health concerns more into consideration when authorizing its use. Also last month, Health Canada, the government’s health department, amid outcry, rejected allegations that glyphosate is a cancer risk and approved its use for the next 15 years. Based on the evaluation conducted by 20 department scientists, Health Canada said in a statement, “After a thorough scientific review, we have concluded that the concerns raised by the objectors, could not be scientifically supported when considering the entire body of relevant data.” Meanwhile, in the United States, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission began holding public meetings in January to gain community feedback on the issue of glyphosate. Roundup accounts for more than half of the herbicides used at Lake Okeechobee in Florida – 11,658 lbs.
The U.S. is anticipating the first federal trial in the Roundup products liability litigation. In February, the first federal case against Bayer and its unit, Monsanto, that helped develop glyphosate 40 years ago and uses it in its herbicide, Roundup, will be heard in San Francisco. This follows a California lawsuit in 2018 that ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a school groundskeeper with terminal cancer who claimed he had not been informed of the alleged risk of cancer when applying Roundup. The court found Monsanto liable, with Monsanto appealing the verdict. Monsanto is facing more than 9,000 lawsuits involving Roundup in the U.S. It vigorously maintains its position that glyphosate is safe for humans and should not be identified as a carcinogen, based on what the company says is hundreds of studies that support its findings. The World Health Organization reclassified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic” in 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. has not identified glyphosate as unsafe for humans, although they continue to review scientific data and discourse. According to the EPA’s website, the agency “is scheduled to publish the proposed interim registration review decision in 2019.”
While the future of glyphosate is unclear with the vociferous debate on its alleged hazards, 2019 will certainly put its use and the safety of our food supply in focus, with major trials, governmental scrutiny, and further scientific research exploring glyphosate’s short and long-term effects on humans and pets.
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