Groups Ask EPA to Cancel Glyphosate Registration

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Food safety and agriculture worker groups asked the EPA to cancel all glyphosate registrations in a petition filed on Wednesday, calling the registration for the main ingredient in Roundup "illegal."

The petition was filed by the Center for Food Safety, Beyond Pesticides and four farmworker advocacy groups who last year convinced a federal appeals court to strike down EPA's human health assessment that dismissed glyphosate's cancer risk. EPA registration denotes that pesticide products do not cause unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the environment.

The petition follows a Nov. 17 verdict in Jefferson County, Missouri, where a jury awarded $1.6 billion in punitive damages to four plaintiffs who claimed using Roundup caused cancer and other injuries, https://www.dtnpf.com/….

"The wealth of evidence demonstrates glyphosate as registered today cannot meet FIFRA's (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) required safety standard," the petition said.

"FIFRA defines 'unreasonable adverse effects on the environment' as 'any unreasonable risk to man or the environment, taking into account the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide.' Glyphosate's harms are expansive and threaten human health, especially the health of applicators, farmworkers and landscapers, as well as our most vulnerable species, and these well-documented harms far outweigh any benefits glyphosate may have. And EPA has no valid assessment demonstrating otherwise. Cancellation and suspension are not simply warranted, they're necessary as glyphosate's continued registration is illegal."

Also in November, the European Commission approved the continued use of glyphosate for the next 10 years after 27 countries in the EU could not reach a consensus on its use.

In 2015, the World Health Organization cancer research agency concluded glyphosate was probably carcinogenic to humans. That conclusion stands in contrast to many agencies around the world, including the EPA. The EPA classifies the chemical as non-carcinogenic.

Despite this, the petition said glyphosate "unquestionably poses risk" to humans and the environment of a "magnitude" large enough to warrant an EPA analysis.

"Glyphosate's risks and harms include predisposing hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, to a lethal cancer, contributing to near eradication of the Monarch butterfly, suppressing pollinators, reducing populations of aquatic organisms and adversely affecting almost all endangered and threatened species, to name just a few," the petition said.

"To date, EPA has failed to ensure glyphosate's current uses meet the required safety standard and thus immediate action is necessary."

In a statement to DTN on Wednesday, Bayer, the company that makes Roundup, said the latest petition isn't consistent with glyphosate's scientific record.

"No health regulator anywhere in the world has ever found glyphosate to pose a carcinogenic risk to human health, and this latest attempt to prevent the lawful registration of these products has no merit," the company said.

"As the EPA continues to state, its 'underlying scientific findings regarding glyphosate, including its finding that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, remain the same' and glyphosate continues to remain on the market. We remain confident, based on the extensive science supporting its safety, that the agency will again conclude that glyphosate is safe for use and not carcinogenic as they have for decades, consistent with the findings of other expert regulators worldwide."

In the petition the groups said because human health is in "danger," EPA should respond to the petition quickly.

The petition said about 280 million pounds of glyphosate is applied on 285 million acres of cropland annually. In addition, glyphosate use is about four times that of the second most-used pesticide, atrazine.

"Agricultural glyphosate use has increased roughly tenfold since the introduction of Monsanto's genetically engineered, 'Roundup Ready' glyphosate-resistant crops in the mid-1990s," the petition said.

"Despite its enormous and pervasive use, EPA has continued to turn a blind eye to the harms of glyphosate herbicides."

Bayer acquired Roundup brands as part of its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto. Bayer continues to maintain that glyphosate is safe, regularly pointing out that EPA and many other countries' regulatory agencies support the chemical's continued use.

In its latest quarterly financial report, Bayer said as of Oct. 10, 2023, the company had settled or was close to settling about 113,000 of 165,000 claims filed.

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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