SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Gary Harms shops for Roundup products at a store in San Rafael, California, on July, 9, 2018. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been classified by the World Health Organization as a probable human carcinogen since 2015. (Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)
Renewed Calls to Ban Glyphosate After Toxic Herbicide Found in 80% of US Urine Samples
"This chemical should not be in our bodies," asserted one green group in response to a new CDC study.
Jul 11, 2022
Environmental and public health advocates renewed calls to ban glyphosate after a recently published U.S. report revealed the cancer-linked herbicide--which is the active ingredient in Bayer's popular Roundup weedkiller--was found in the urine of more than 80% of study participants.
" Monsanto lobbyists achieved the full-scale poisoning of our planet for profit."
Of the 2,310 urine samples taken from children and adults for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1,885 contained detectable amounts of glyphosate.
"Ban glyphosate," tweeted the Massachusetts-based Berkshire Environmental Action Team in response to the study. "This chemical should not be in our bodies."
David Nickarz, an activist and former Green Party of Manitoba president, tweeted: "Roundup is polluting our bodies and giving us cancer. Why haven't we banned this stuff yet?"
According to The Guardian:
Both the amount and prevalence of glyphosate found in human urine has been rising steadily since the 1990s when Monsanto Co. introduced genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with Roundup, according to research published in 2017 by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers...
Residues of glyphosate have been documented in an array of popular foods made with crops sprayed with glyphosate, including baby food. The primary route of exposure for children is through the diet.
Last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review its assessment that glyphosate likely poses "no unreasonable risk" to human health or the environment.
According to the EPA, there is "no evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in humans," a conclusion shared by the European Food Safety Authority--which nevertheless warns that the herbicide causes "serious eye damage" and is "toxic to aquatic life."
However, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans," while researchers at the University of Washington published a 2019 study showing that using the herbicide increased the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 41%.
In 2018 and 2019, three San Francisco-area juries ordered Monsanto--which was acquired by Bayer AG in 2018--to pay more than $2.3 billion dollars in combined damages for failing to adequately warn consumers about glyphosate's cancer risks, although all three judgments were later reduced on appeal.
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay over $10 billion to settle claims that Roundup exposure caused plaintiffs' cancers. Bayer said the settlement affected 75% of Roundup-related litigation, which involved approximately 125,000 claims.
Bayer announced last July that it would end U.S. sales of its market-leading Roundup home and garden glyphosate-based herbicide by 2023.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Environmental and public health advocates renewed calls to ban glyphosate after a recently published U.S. report revealed the cancer-linked herbicide--which is the active ingredient in Bayer's popular Roundup weedkiller--was found in the urine of more than 80% of study participants.
" Monsanto lobbyists achieved the full-scale poisoning of our planet for profit."
Of the 2,310 urine samples taken from children and adults for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1,885 contained detectable amounts of glyphosate.
"Ban glyphosate," tweeted the Massachusetts-based Berkshire Environmental Action Team in response to the study. "This chemical should not be in our bodies."
David Nickarz, an activist and former Green Party of Manitoba president, tweeted: "Roundup is polluting our bodies and giving us cancer. Why haven't we banned this stuff yet?"
According to The Guardian:
Both the amount and prevalence of glyphosate found in human urine has been rising steadily since the 1990s when Monsanto Co. introduced genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with Roundup, according to research published in 2017 by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers...
Residues of glyphosate have been documented in an array of popular foods made with crops sprayed with glyphosate, including baby food. The primary route of exposure for children is through the diet.
Last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review its assessment that glyphosate likely poses "no unreasonable risk" to human health or the environment.
According to the EPA, there is "no evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in humans," a conclusion shared by the European Food Safety Authority--which nevertheless warns that the herbicide causes "serious eye damage" and is "toxic to aquatic life."
However, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans," while researchers at the University of Washington published a 2019 study showing that using the herbicide increased the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 41%.
In 2018 and 2019, three San Francisco-area juries ordered Monsanto--which was acquired by Bayer AG in 2018--to pay more than $2.3 billion dollars in combined damages for failing to adequately warn consumers about glyphosate's cancer risks, although all three judgments were later reduced on appeal.
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay over $10 billion to settle claims that Roundup exposure caused plaintiffs' cancers. Bayer said the settlement affected 75% of Roundup-related litigation, which involved approximately 125,000 claims.
Bayer announced last July that it would end U.S. sales of its market-leading Roundup home and garden glyphosate-based herbicide by 2023.
From Your Site Articles
- Low-Paid Immigrant Farmworkers Most at Risk From Toxic Weedkiller US Refuses to Ban ›
- 'Outrageous': New Roundup Is 45 Times More Toxic | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Don’t Buy Your Loved Ones Toxins for the Holidays | Common Dreams ›
- Trump EPA 'Hitting New Heights of Absurdity' With Plan to Reapprove Pesticide Dicamba | Common Dreams ›
Environmental and public health advocates renewed calls to ban glyphosate after a recently published U.S. report revealed the cancer-linked herbicide--which is the active ingredient in Bayer's popular Roundup weedkiller--was found in the urine of more than 80% of study participants.
" Monsanto lobbyists achieved the full-scale poisoning of our planet for profit."
Of the 2,310 urine samples taken from children and adults for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1,885 contained detectable amounts of glyphosate.
"Ban glyphosate," tweeted the Massachusetts-based Berkshire Environmental Action Team in response to the study. "This chemical should not be in our bodies."
David Nickarz, an activist and former Green Party of Manitoba president, tweeted: "Roundup is polluting our bodies and giving us cancer. Why haven't we banned this stuff yet?"
According to The Guardian:
Both the amount and prevalence of glyphosate found in human urine has been rising steadily since the 1990s when Monsanto Co. introduced genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with Roundup, according to research published in 2017 by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers...
Residues of glyphosate have been documented in an array of popular foods made with crops sprayed with glyphosate, including baby food. The primary route of exposure for children is through the diet.
Last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review its assessment that glyphosate likely poses "no unreasonable risk" to human health or the environment.
According to the EPA, there is "no evidence that glyphosate causes cancer in humans," a conclusion shared by the European Food Safety Authority--which nevertheless warns that the herbicide causes "serious eye damage" and is "toxic to aquatic life."
However, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer said in 2015 that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans," while researchers at the University of Washington published a 2019 study showing that using the herbicide increased the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 41%.
In 2018 and 2019, three San Francisco-area juries ordered Monsanto--which was acquired by Bayer AG in 2018--to pay more than $2.3 billion dollars in combined damages for failing to adequately warn consumers about glyphosate's cancer risks, although all three judgments were later reduced on appeal.
In 2020, Bayer agreed to pay over $10 billion to settle claims that Roundup exposure caused plaintiffs' cancers. Bayer said the settlement affected 75% of Roundup-related litigation, which involved approximately 125,000 claims.
Bayer announced last July that it would end U.S. sales of its market-leading Roundup home and garden glyphosate-based herbicide by 2023.
From Your Site Articles
- Low-Paid Immigrant Farmworkers Most at Risk From Toxic Weedkiller US Refuses to Ban ›
- 'Outrageous': New Roundup Is 45 Times More Toxic | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Don’t Buy Your Loved Ones Toxins for the Holidays | Common Dreams ›
- Trump EPA 'Hitting New Heights of Absurdity' With Plan to Reapprove Pesticide Dicamba | Common Dreams ›
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.