Key Element of Monsanto Weed Killer Not a Carcinogen, European Agency Says -
By DANNY HAKIMMARCH 15, 2017
LONDON — European regulators gave a Monsanto a boost on Wednesday after determining
that the main ingredient in the company’s flagship weed killer should not be classified as causing cancer.
The chemicals agency responded with its own letter,
and during the news conference on Wednesday, Jack de Bruijn, the agency’s director of risk assessment, said, “We carefully check our staff, the members of our committees, as well as all collaborators we work with in developing these scientific opinions” so “there are no conflicts of interest.”
The announcement in Europe was unlikely to end the debate over glyphosate, given
the contents of the court records unsealed in San Francisco on Tuesday.
The finding by the chemicals agency “reinforces the outcome of other evaluations of glyphosate which have been conducted by regulatory authorities around the world,”
Richard Garnett, chairman of the task force, said in a statement, adding, “The scientific evidence to support the renewal of glyphosate is overwhelming.”
Underscoring the controversy surrounding research related to pesticides, the chemical agency’s
review process was subject to criticism even before the findings were announced.
“This conclusion was based both on the human evidence and the weight of the evidence of all of the animal studies reviewed.”
The safety of glyphosate has been a contentious topic since the International Agency for Research on Cancer,
a branch of the World Health Organization, classified the substance as a probable carcinogen two years ago.