With the ever-increasing list of possible health complications caused by glyphosate, the primary component of Monsanto’s multi-billion dollar product Roundup, the company’s cries claiming that their herbicide is safe sound increasingly hollow.
The summer issue of the Trial Lawyer magazine featured a piece titled ‘Corporate Power Run Amok? Monsanto’ by KJ McElrath that focused on discussing the decades-long fight between Monsanto and studies that have linked glyphosate to a wide range of health issues, most notably non-Hodgkin lymphoma. When the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified glyphosate as a Group C substance – possibly carcinogenic to humans – back in 1985, it only took six years for them to change the chemical’s classification to Group E – evidence of non-carcinogenicity in humans.
The contradictions aren’t isolated to the United Sates, either. In March of 2015, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published findings from a study on five organophosphate herbicides and insecticides[1], including glyphosate, and determined that glyphosate, as well as the insecticides malathion and diazinon, fell under Group 2A – probably carcinogenic to humans. 17 experts from 11 different countries, following almost a year of preparation and reviews of the latest scientific evidence available, reclassified these substances following a week of discussions and assessment.
Barely a year later, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a separate report[2] in May of 2016 that stated:
Overall, there is some evidence of a positive association between glyphosate exposure and risk of NHL from the case–control studies and the overall metaanalysis… The overall weight of evidence indicates that administration of glyphosate and its formulation products at doses as high as 2000 mg/kg body weight by the oral route, the route most relevant to human dietary exposure, was not associated with genotoxic effects in an overwhelming majority of studies conducted in mammals, a model considered to be appropriate for assessing genotoxic risks to humans.”
Even if the average person’s daily consumption of glyphosate isn’t enough to increase their risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, that doesn’t change the fact that over 1.6 billion kilograms – over 1.7 million tons – of glyphosate has been applied to crops in the United States since 1974, and 8.6 billion kilograms – over 9.4 million tons – of glyphosate has been applied to crops across the globe[3].
This puts farmers at an incredible risk due to the levels of exposure. Domina Law Group is currently representing four farmers from Nebraska who claim that exposure to glyphosate gave them non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The lawsuit states that:
“Monsanto championed falsified data and has attacked legitimate studies that revealed Roundup’s dangers. Monsanto led a campaign of misinformation to convince government agencies, farmers and the general population that Roundup is safe. Its continuing denial extends to the date of this Complaint.”
While it’s understandable the Monsanto would want to protect its product that generated $4.8 billion in sales for them in 2015 alone, it’s unacceptable for them to attempt to fight back against an increasing number of scientific studies that link glyphosate to a variety of harmful and deadly side effects in order to avoid correctly labeling the product. We have put together an informational sheet for anyone in agriculture with a potential claim against Monsanto that can be accessed here. You can also sign up here, contact one of our Monsanto Roundup cancer lawyers by filling out this form on our website, or you can set up a meeting with one of our attorneys by calling us at (888) 387-4134.