In the PR war being waged against glyphosate, no one can accuse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of buckling to public opinion.
As the debate wears on about whether the world's most popular weed killer causes cancer, the EPA reaffirmed its findings from 2017 that there is no evidence to support claims that glyphosate is a carcinogen.
The announcement came in response to two lawsuits in California in which juries awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to two cancer patients who say Roundup caused their non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
It is not difficult to find negative press on glyphosate. Besides the two California cases, it is named as a cancer-causing agent in thousands of other ongoing lawsuits and it is the subject of late-night TV commercials funded by law groups seeking to cash in on the next suit. Even the city of Miami recently banned its use on city property.
The EPA says otherwise when it backed up its findings in an April 20 news announcement.
"EPA has found no risks to public health from the current registered uses of glyphosate," said EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. "Today's proposed action includes new management measures that will help farmers use glyphosate in the most effective and efficient way possible, including pollinator protections. We look forward to input from farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that the draft management measures are workable, realistic, and effective."
According to the EPA: There are no risks to children or adults from currently registered uses; there is no indication that children are more sensitive to glyphosate; and there is no evidence that glyphosate causes cancer.
The Agency concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. EPA considered a significantly more extensive and relevant dataset than the International Agency on the Research for Cancer.
A California jury last year ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million to a school groundskeeper who said his terminal cancer was caused by Roundup. That figure was later adjusted by a judge to $78.5 million. In March, a San Francisco jury awarded another cancer patient $80.
According to published reports, there are more than 11,000 lawsuits pending against Monsanto and Bayer. However, in 2017, a study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute said there was no scientific evidence to link glyphosate and cancer in people. Another study published in Brazil came to the same conclusion.
The EPA's cancer classification is consistent with other international expert panels and regulatory authorities, including the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority, European Food Safety Authority, European Chemicals Agency, German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority and the Food Safety Commission of Japan.