Glyphosate is carcinogenic

Pesticide glyphosate could cause severe health complaints

04/10/2015

Glyphosate is approved as a weedkiller in 27 EU countries. Researchers from the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have carried out a risk assessment of the drug, after the top-selling pesticide has repeatedly been suspected of causing cancer. After her examination, glyphosate was used as „probably carcinogenic“ classified. Nevertheless, the weed killer continues to be sold to home gardeners in hardware stores, garden centers and garden centers. The Austrian environmental organization Global 2000 carried out test purchases and found that the consumer is not informed about the risks of the pesticide by the trade. And worse, the remedy was even recommended for weed control.

Glyphosate is still recommended for weed killing despite a negative WHO assessment
The environmental protection organization carried out its test purchases in a total of 13 garden centers, DIY stores, garden centers and warehouses in the Greater Vienna area. As it turned out, glyphosate-containing products were the first choice for weed control in nine out of 13 cases. „The fact that the active substance glyphosate is now classified as 'probably carcinogenic', the test buyers were informed in any case, even on demand. Between the classification of glyphosate as 'probably carcinogenic' and our purchase test was about two weeks“, the environmentalists of Global 2000 report on their website. The sellers did not seem to have any information about the health risk of the best-selling pesticide. The customers were thus believed to buy a completely safe product.

The classification of glyphosate as „probably carcinogenic "by the IARC was published on March 20 of this year for the evaluation, an international team of 17 independent scientists and experts had spent about a year extensively dealt with the scientific publications on glyphosate.

Experts argue about the carcinogenic effects of glyphosate
Another assessment is provided by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), which is responsible for the EU-wide assessment of glyphosate. It has its own statement „no evidence of a carcinogenic, reproductive or teratogenic effect "detected by glyphosate. „The fact that the WHO Panel of Experts comes to different conclusions from the same studies (...) puts the European risk assessment of pesticides in a doubtful light, "cites the online edition of „Small newspaper“ the environmental chemist Helmut Burtscher of Global 2000.

The environmental organization advises consumers to switch to natural weed killers or mechanical weeding. As a positive example, she mentions Austria's largest garden center for the private sector, Bellaflora, which not only dispenses with glyphosate-containing products, but banished in 2013 all chemical-synthetic pesticides from its range. (Ag)