On Wednesday, environmental and labor groups and farmworkers urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to immediately stop and revoke the federal government's approval of the herbicide glyphosate, which is the main ingredient of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide.
In a petition submitted to the EPA, the EPA, six organizations, which include those from the Center for Food Safety and the Farmworker Association of Florida, asked for immediate action to allow the selling or use of the chemical illegal until the EPA examines the health effects of glyphosate and environmental hazards.
The EPA has stated that glyphosate is the most widely employed herbicide in the U.S., with roughly 280 million pounds being applied yearly to corn, cotton, and soybean crops. The chemical’s exposure can be harmful to the health of humans and wildlife as well as has been linked with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, kidney damage, and various other illnesses by the petition.
The groups argued that the EPA’s approval of the chemical infringes on the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, which obliges the EPA to ensure that it has “reasonable certainty” that herbicides do not cause damage to the human body or environment before they are allowed to be used on food items.
The EPA has stated that it is reviewing the risks of glyphosate, but the agency’s essential findings, such as that it’s not likely to pose an endocrine risk, will remain as.
The EPA’s stance on the glyphosate chemical has been significant in recent lawsuits filed against Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer (BAYGn.DE), concerning personal harms that are believed to have resulted from Roundup.
Plaintiffs have cited last year’s 9th Circuit decision as evidence that the EPA’s decision to approve the product is uncertain. At the same time, Bayer dismissed the decision as procedural and stressed that the agency’s findings remain the same.
A Bayer spokesperson stated in a statement released on Wednesday morning that no health authority around the globe has discovered that glyphosate poses an increased risk of cancer to humans and added that it “has no merit.”
The company has suffered numerous legal costs in Roundup lawsuits, most recently the $1.56 billion Missouri jury verdict for four defendants in November. The company claims procedural blunders ruined the trials and promised to appeal.
The situation is the Petition to Refuse All Registrations of Glyphosate Herbicide, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency heard. The case is No. Still needs to be made available.
Contact The Justice Now!
If you or someone close to you was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma or the large Diffuse B-cell Lymphoma, Follicular Lymphoma, other cancers, or other diseases following the use of or exposure to Roundup from Monsanto You may be legally entitled to an amount of money to cover the costs for your injuries.
