The EPA has made a preliminary finding that glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans – but the agency isn’t ready to go public yet. The EPA briefly posted to the regulatory docket Monday and then pulled down an October 2015 final report from its Cancer Assessment Review Committee, which is made of up of staff, that concluded glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” The committee said evidence from existing epidemiological studies and tests of lab animals doesn’t meet the bar for classifying the chemical as a carcinogen. -from the American Society of Agronomy
After its review of the herbicide glyphosate, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) announced the classification of glyphosate as “Not Likely to be Carcinogenic to Humans” based on extensive evidence. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Authority (PMRA) all have published similar announcements on glyphosate since late 2015. These organizations have stated in sum that glyphosate is not a threat to humans, conclusions that were found by using standard scientific practices and the overwhelming amount of evidence. These organizations noted flaws with the IARC’s original statement in March 2015 that glyphosate could be a “probable carcinogen.”
Hugh Grant, Monsanto’s chairman and CEO commented, “No pesticide regulator in the world considers glyphosate to be a carcinogen, and this conclusion by the U.S. EPA once again reinforces this important fact… This rigorous assessment of the data by EPA builds on the sound conclusions of both the European and Canadian regulatory authorities and once again makes it clear that glyphosate does not cause cancer.”
The CARC’s public report can be found on EPA’s glyphosate docket. To find out more about the studies, view this article from SeedWorld.
“EPA Concludes Glyphosate Does Not Cause Cancer” – SeedWorld. SeedWorld EPA Concludes Glyphosate Does Not Cause Cancer., 03 May 2016. Web. 04 May 2016.
