Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, poses no threat to human health when used as directed and is unlikely to cause cancer, said the EPA in an interim decision on Thursday. Environmentalists denounced the decision as faulty. Glyphosate maker Bayer, facing thousands of lawsuits alleging the weedkiller is carcinogenic, has maintained that the chemical is safe.
The EPA issued the interim decision as part of a so-called registration review, which is required every 15 years for pesticides. Nine months ago, it announced the same conclusions about glyphosate’s safety, along with new steps to avoid harm to pollinators and prevent the emergence of “superweeds,” in a proposed interim decision. The agency said three issues must be resolved before it makes a final decision on keeping glyphosate in use.
Glyphosate, best known under the trade name Roundup, has been under severe challenge since March 2015, when the UN International Agency for Research on Cancer said that the chemical is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” The EPA reached the opposite conclusion in late 2017 and has reiterated it throughout the registration review.
“EPA continues to find that there are no risks of concern to human health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label. EPA also found that glyphosate is unlikely to be a human carcinogen,” said a summary of the interim decision. “EPA is requiring management measures to help farmers target pesticide sprays to intended pests, protect pollinators, and reduce the problem of weeds becoming resistant to glyphosate.”
The lion’s share of major U.S. crops, including corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugarbeets, are grown from seeds genetically engineered to withstand doses of glyphosate or other pesticides. U.S. officials have pressed other nations to accept imports of GE crops. The largest U.S. farm group said the EPA interim decision was a victory for growers who rely on herbicides to kill weeds so they can use reduced and no-till practices that limit soil erosion and nutrient runoff. “Science clearly shows that this tool is both safe and effective,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Green groups said there was ample evidence, such as the IARC determination, that glyphosate can be harmful. “Contrary to the Trump EPA’s claims, both regulatory studies and independent science demonstrate that glyphosate herbicides are carcinogenic and have adverse effects on other organs,” said Bill Freese of the Center for Food Safety, an advocate of organic agriculture.
“Today’s announcement underscores that the Trump administration’s willful ignorance of science and absolute fealty toward the chemical pesticide industry knows no bounds,” said Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group. The EWG filed a petition in 2018 to prohibit the use of glyphosate to “dry down” oats before harvest. The petition is one of the three issues to be resolved before the EPA rules on glyphosate. The EPA said it “anticipates issuing the response to the petition in 2020.”
Charles Benbrook, a visiting professor at Newcastle University who in 2019 analyzed the differences in the IARC and EPA assessments on glyphosate, said he was “flabbergasted” that the EPA did not add precautions against worker exposure to glyphosate. “This irresponsible action by EPA sets the stage for a concerted campaign by activists and public health advocates to ban all uses of GBHs,” said Benbrook, referring to glyphosate-based herbicides.
Besides widespread use in agriculture, glyphosate is used by gardeners and landscapers.
Financial and corporate sources told the German newspaper Handelsblatt that Bayer was considering ending sales of glyphosate for use in home gardens, reported Reuters. The cut-off was discussed as part of negotiations to resolve lawsuits in the United States. The number of U.S. plaintiffs has been estimated variously from 40,000 to 75,000.
To read the EPA summary, the interim final decision, and related documents, click here.