Health, Environmental, and Farmer Groups Call for EPA to Remove Glyphosate Products from U.S. Market

On Sep. 3, 2019 Sixteen (16) health, environmental, farmer, and farmworker organizations released a joint statement calling for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove glyphosate from the U.S. marketplace due to an abundance of evidence linking it to a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient found in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer products. Today, Monsanto is the focus of at least 18,400 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who claim Roundup gave them NHL cancer. The report was filed in response to the EPA’s proposed interim registration review decision, in which it found “no human health or environmental safety findings associated with… glyphosate.” In other words, the agency continues to assert that glyphosate as it is currently used does not exceed levels of concern for human health, which contradicts the findings of many independent studies.

The Sep. 3, 2019 statement requests that the EPA, which has been accused of working with Monsanto to cover up the human health risks associated with glyphosate, re-evaluate the toxicity of every formulated glyphosate product and suspend the registration of glyphosate products that have not undergone further review: the “EPA’s myopic review and response to the dangers posed by glyphosate does a disservice to American farmers, farm workers, and commercial landscapers wishing to use the least-toxic products that do not put them at risk of health impacts, and consumers aiming to make the safest choice in regards to what to feed their family and how to manage their yards.” Agencies that signed off on the statement consist of the following:

• Beyond Pesticides
• Beyond Toxics
• Central Maryland Beekeepers Association
• Farmworker Association of Florida
• Food and Water Watch
• Friends of the Earth
• Kansas Rural Center
• Maryland Pesticide Education Network
• National Family Farm Coalition
• Northeast Organic Farming Association: Massachusetts Chapter
• Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides
• Organic Consumers Association
• People and Pollinators Action Network
• Pesticide Action Network
• Sierra Club
• Toxic Free North Carolina

The number of organizations included in the statement reflects the increase in public awareness of the documented hazardous health impacts of glyphosate, which is likely attributed to the three highly-publicized Roundup lawsuits that have gone to trial to-date. In each trial, plaintiffs diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after regularly using Roundup were allocated millions in damages because of Monsanto’s failure to disclose the risks associated with their glyphosate-based products.

If you or a loved one has developed cancer after being exposed to glyphosates in products like Roundup, please give the Roundup Lawyers at Childers, Schlueter, & Smith a call at 800-641-0098 or fill out our online contact form. All initial inquiries are free of charge and without obligation.