Roundup is not widely used on golf courses, but the legal wranglings that its owners have faced the past several years should make turf managers everywhere stand up and take notice as an example of what can happen to any of several pesticides that end up on the wrong side of the news cycle.
What once was the world's most popular weedkiller, Roundup has been the center of legal struggles for the past five years amid claims it is responsible for causing cancer among users.
The result has been a cascade of lawsuits, multi-billion-dollar settlements and eventually pulling the product from the consumer marketplace. The most recent turn in this story is the settlement of lawsuit brought by the State of New York.
According to reports, Bayer, which inherited the Roundup brand when it acquired Monsanto in 2018, has been accused by New York Attorney General Letitia James of misleading consumers by claiming the product is environmentally safe.
A statement by James's office read: "Bayer and Monsanto repeatedly claimed in advertising that Roundup consumer products containing the active ingredient glyphosate were safe and non-toxic without adequate substantiation. These claims violated state laws against false and misleading advertising, and also breached a previous settlement the Office of the Attorney General reached with Monsanto in 1996, in which Monsanto committed to stop making unsubstantiated claims regarding the safety of Roundup products that contained glyphosate."
As part of the settlement agreement, Bayer will pay the state $6.9 million that James says will be used to "prevent, abate, restore, mitigate, or control the impacts of toxic pesticides such as those containing glyphosate on pollinators or aquatic species."
Bayer has neither confirmed nor denied malpractice, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has refuted claims, saying that Roundup is safe when used according to label instructions.
The settlement also requires Bayer and Monsanto to immediately remove or discontinue any advertisements that represent Roundup consumer products containing glyphosate as safe, non-toxic and harmless to pollinators and other wildlife. Bayer and Monsanto must also direct distributor and retail partners to halt any marketing materials that contain allegedly false claims.
"It is essential," James said in a statement, "that pesticide companies — even and especially the most powerful ones — are honest with consumers about the dangers posed by their products so that they can be used responsibly."
The New York Attorney General's office says it has been investigating Roundup and its effects on the environment for three years.
More than 100,000 cases have been filed against Bayer claiming that glyphosate is responsible for causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Three years ago, Bayer settled many of the cases lodged against it for $11 billion. Since then,many of the 150,000-plus suits brought by plaintiffs have been settled or dismissed.