The most widely used herbicide in the world, glyphosate, faces hundreds of legal challenges from cancer victims, primarily agricultural and landscape workers, who blame the chemical for their illnesses, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Attorney Tim Litzenburg says the total could run into the thousands in the next two months because the statute of limitations is running out in many states.
Separately, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kristi Kapetan on Friday formalized a ruling allowing California to list glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, as a chemical “known to the state to cause cancer” in accordance with Proposition 65, plaintiff attorneys said.
In March 2015, the UN International Agency for Research on Cancer ruled that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup and developed by Monsanto, was probably carcinogenic to humans. Many states set a deadline for filing suit within two years of learning of a possible connection to a product. “When IARC says something is carcinogenic, it’s generally carcinogenic,” Litzenburg told the Post-Dispatch.
Monsanto, which prevailed in previous lawsuits over the weedkiller, “paints the IARC report as an unfounded anomaly, pointing out that hundreds of governments, agencies and studies have been unable to establish health risks and have approved the chemical for use,” said the newspaper. Since the IARC report, the European Food Safety Authority and the EPA have said glyphosate does not cause cancer.