Glyphosate, a controversial weed killer, is not in “Key areas of concern” The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded in a study presented to the European Commission on Thursday, 6 July, to block the renewal of its authorization in the EU. EFSA “No significant areas of concern have been identified” Glyphosate in humans, animals and the environment, she explains in a press release, noting “a high long-term risk in mammals” For half the proposed uses of glyphosate.
A going concern is defined as “Serious“When it affects all proposed uses of the active substance being evaluated, thus preventing its authorisation, the EFSA specifies. Overall, the report, which will be made public in July, is based on 2,400 studies, 180,000 pages, and called on 90 experts from member states, argued the authority. EFSA was originally supposed to publish its study in the second half of 2022, but the publication was postponed due to a number of issues. “phenomenal” Comments received.
The study, which is being eagerly awaited by both farmers and environmentalists, is important because it will provide the basis for the European Commission to decide to extend for five years the authorization issued on the European market for the best-known weed killer. should work as and which should end. 15 December. a reappraisal that the makers believed, who told themselves “pretty sure”According to a representative of Platform Glyphosate France (Bayer, Syngenta, etc.) quoted by specialized media Agriculture France.
expert vs scientist
The question of the carcinogenicity of glyphosate has divided regulatory and scientific agencies for eight years. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified glyphosate as a carcinogen in 2015. “potential carcinogen” for humans. On its part, a group of experts from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France concluded in 2021 “Existence of increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with moderate assumption of link”. Along with glyphosate, the active substance of the famous Roundup marketed by Monsanto, which was acquired by German Bayer in 2018. In June 2022, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), on its part, concluded, “that it is not appropriate to classify glyphosate as a carcinogen.
To explain this difference in assessment, co-authors of the Inserm expert report, Luc Multigner, epidemiologist, and Xavier Koumoul, toxicologist, explained. release He “The process of evaluating glyphosate (by regulatory agencies, editor’s note) eludes a great deal of scientific expertise, which is nevertheless very sound from a health perspective”,
legal and political pressure
Parallel to this tussle of experts, debate is also going on on political and legal grounds. In the United States, lawsuits from people accusing the manufacturer for the absence of warnings on Roundup’s packaging have caused Bayer billions of dollars in damages. In a groundbreaking lawsuit, a jury in a San Francisco court awarded gardener Dwayne Johnson nearly $290 million for failing to inform US agrochemical company Monsanto (since acquired by Bayer) about the dangerousness of his Roundup herbicide. Sentenced to pay damages.
Emmanuel Macron personally committed to stay in 2020. A promise turned out to be a dead letter, even though 36 products based on this molecule were withdrawn from the market, ie a little over half. To mark the occasion, on Wednesday, environmental NGOs called on the French government to oppose the renewal of this authorisation. “Our organizations want France to take a stand against the reauthorization of a substance that is dangerous to health and the environment”In a letter to Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne and other ministries, around fifteen NGOs – including Future Generation, Greenpeace, the Climate Action Network or Friends of the Earth – demanded the same. Some thirty environmental organizations have also collected more than 500,000 signatures in a petition calling on France to protest. “Publicly for renewal of authorization of this toxic insecticide in Europe”,
The green signal from European health experts for the reauthorization of the herbicide
