California farmer Jack McCall died last Dec. 26 of non-Hodgkins lymphoma but remains “one of several plaintiffs in more than a dozen lawsuits that claim the active ingredient in Roundup — a chemical called glyphosate — gave them cancer,” says Huffington Post.
Some legal experts say the litigation could be a legal landmark against Monsanto, one of the largest agrichemical companies in the world.
The lawsuits claim that Monsanto hid evidence about the safety of glyphosate, estimating the herbicide, the most widely used weedkiller in the world, generates one-third of Monsanto’s annual sales. Like McCall, many farmed or worked in agricultural jobs in which they regularly were using or exposed to glyphosate. “Teams of attorneys have been criss-crossing the country lining up potential plaintiffs who they say will likely number in the hundreds and possibly thousands.”
Glyphosate has long been regarded as one of the safest pesticides available. The EPA is updating its safety assessment of the chemical. The review gained additional prominence because the World Health Organization’s cancer agency classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen last year. Monsanto strongly disputes the conclusion and says the weedkiller is safe.