EPA says Roundup is safe, non-carcinogenic

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glyphosate
What did we say about 'weekly' glyphosate updates ...

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined glyphosate is safe and not carcinogenic to humans. The conclusion was included in an herbicide-focused study posted to a federal regulatory website on 16th September.

The EPA says "an extensive database" was used for evaluating glyphosate, which included twenty-three epidemiological studies, fifteen animal carcinogenicity studies and about ninety genotoxicity studies. As a result, the agency concluded, "The available data at this time does not support a carcinogenic process for glyphosate."

In an interview regarding the agency's position on the most widely used herbicide in the world, EPA Agriculture Counsellor Ron Carleton says, "Our view at this point, is that glyphosate, when used according to label, is safe and effective."

The newest findings by the EPA come as no surprise to industry officials. Jay Vroom, CEO of CropLife America, the Washington D.C.-based trade group representing the agricultural chemical industry says, "It's been evaluated around the world and registered as safe to be used by countless countries."

The organisation's Senior Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs, Janet Collins, says, "The bigger surprise was why are we having this discussion again when EPA had just finished its cancer report the middle of last year? So the question was, what's new? And so they do go through in pretty good detail, the 'what's new.' The studies that they had not reviewed before, both from a toxicology perspective, as well as epidemiologic studies."

Vroom goes on to suggest the method the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) used to make their determination on glyphosate was flawed. "It's pretty clear that it's a stacked deck, it was more than a stacked deck and very unfortunate," he says.

More than a year after the IARC study, Vroom says, "Major governments around the world, including the European Union and European Food Safety Authority, have refuted the IARC conclusion that there is a link between the herbicide and cancer."

The newest findings by the EPA is good news for all who rely on glyphosate for weed control.

When asked about the likelihood of re-registration Collins says, "I can't imagine they would have any choice. The report that is going to the scientific advisory panel is positive on every front. I mean, it is thorough, its objectively based, and its all of the new and old studies, as well."

"It is also is the engine that is fueling the ability to invest in the discovery of newer, better products," he says. "We've got to have that continuum of success, proven safety, to build on that to find the next best innovation."

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