Nick von Westenholz, CEO of the Crop Protection Association said: “It’s extremely surprising that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has apparently disregarded a substantial body of scientific evidence supporting the conclusion that glyphosate is not a human health risk.
“Numerous health assessments conducted by public authorities over the past 40 years have consistently concluded that glyphosate does not pose any unacceptable risk to human health.
“As recently as last year, the German government, acting as Rapporteur Member State for the EU’s renewal of approval for glyphosate, found that in epidemiological studies in humans there was no evidence of carcinogenicity and there were no effects on fertility, reproduction and development of neurotoxicity that might be attributed to glyphosate.
“Claims that glyphosate is possibly carcinogenic also contradict conclusions reached by the IARC’s own parent body the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has found that ‘glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans’.
“Looking at the summary, the IARC’s conclusions appear to be the result of an incomplete data review that has omitted key evidence, and so needs to be treated with a significant degree of caution, particularly in light of the wealth of independent evidence demonstrating the safety of glyphosate.
“Pesticides are the most heavily regulated products in Europe, it currently takes around ten years, costing £150m, to bring an active ingredient to market. This regulatory process, involving rigorous scrutiny by independent scientific experts, ensures plant protection products are safe for consumer health, for the people who use them and for the environment.”
