The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it won't require labels on glyphosate-containing products that link the chemical to cancer. "The EPA's announcement is a win for Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer AG, which have found a haven in the agency but not in the courts," Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder reports for U.S. News & World Report.
"The move is directed at California. In 2017, the state declared the chemical, which is the main active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, a carcinogen. Roundup producer Monsanto challenged the ruling in federal court, and a judge has temporarily blocked the state from requiring the labels as the lawsuit continues," Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
The new guidance tells companies registered to sell glyphosate that California's labels "constitute a false and misleading statement" and that the EPA won't approve any labels containing the state's warning. The agency says the guidance is based on its own findings that show glyphosate is not harmful when properly used. "But the World Health Organization's cancer agency previously determined that glyphosate is likely to cause cancer, prompting California to list the chemical in Proposition 65, its right-to-know law that provides residents with warnings about cancer-causing chemicals," Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
In three major court cases, Roundup users who got cancer were awarded billions of dollars by juries. Bayer says it's appealing those verdicts, but there are more than 13,000 similar cases pending in the U.S., Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
"The move is directed at California. In 2017, the state declared the chemical, which is the main active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, a carcinogen. Roundup producer Monsanto challenged the ruling in federal court, and a judge has temporarily blocked the state from requiring the labels as the lawsuit continues," Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
The new guidance tells companies registered to sell glyphosate that California's labels "constitute a false and misleading statement" and that the EPA won't approve any labels containing the state's warning. The agency says the guidance is based on its own findings that show glyphosate is not harmful when properly used. "But the World Health Organization's cancer agency previously determined that glyphosate is likely to cause cancer, prompting California to list the chemical in Proposition 65, its right-to-know law that provides residents with warnings about cancer-causing chemicals," Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
In three major court cases, Roundup users who got cancer were awarded billions of dollars by juries. Bayer says it's appealing those verdicts, but there are more than 13,000 similar cases pending in the U.S., Smith-Schoenwalder reports.
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