A first-of-its-kind independent animal study conducted on glyphosate and published in the peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Health, found exposure to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides causes cancer in laboratory animals at doses deemed “safe” by EU authorities. The study was led by the Ramazzini Institute and “tested both glyphosate and the representative formulation used in the EU,” Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN) reported.
Even at the EU’s Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), the study shows that glyphosate and its formulations have carcinogenic potential.
“This peer-reviewed publication removes any excuse for inaction,” Dr. Angeliki Lysimachou, head of science and policy at PAN Europe, said. “Regulators knowingly excluded critical evidence from the risk assessment. Glyphosate clearly fails to meet the safety requirements of EU law.”
The study confirmed that glyphosate caused early-onset leukemia in rats and revealed a significant increase in multiple other types of tumours, including skin, liver, thyroid, nervous system, ovary, mammary gland, adrenal glands, kidney, urinary bladder, bone, endocrine pancreas, uterus and spleen, in laboratory animals.
“The fact that leukemia developed at exposure levels still considered ‘safe’ by the EU authorities should have set off alarm bells already in 2023,” Lysimachou said. “The newly published results now confirm that these low exposure levels can lead to a broader spectrum of cancers, raising the level of concern even further.”
While the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015, glyphosate continues to be the most used herbicide in Europe causing widespread human exposure through food, water and air, according to PAN Europe.
PAN Europe and its member organizations ClientEarth, Générations Futures, GLOBAL 2000, PAN Germany and PAN Netherlands, brought a legal case against European Commission and Member States after they renewed glyphosate’s approval for another decade, “based on extensive scientific evidence showing that glyphosate causes cancer, disrupts the gut microbiome, may harm the nervous system, and contributes to biodiversity loss.”
“Europe’s citizens deserve better protection of health, not a pesticide approval system that bends to industry pressure,” Lysimachou said. “This new evidence must trigger an urgent re-evaluation of glyphosate’s authorisation and of the integrity of the entire EU pesticide regulatory process.”
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