Monsanto Facing Lawsuits for Glyphosate Exposure

Written by Tyler R. Etter

Two lawsuits have been brought against Monsanto, alleging that the company’s herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) caused their cancers. The suits have been filed in federal court in New York and California.

The complaints state that Monsanto has misled consumers regarding the safety of their herbicide, and are seeking punitive damages for harm caused by exposure to the products. Both complaints cite the recent report by the United Nation’s World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IRAC) report about the safety of glyphosate. The IRACreport listed glyphosate as potentially carcinogenic to humans. The complaints allege that this report is proof that Monsanto has been misrepresenting the safety of glyphosate to consumers.

Monsanto has called the suits baseless, and claims that the IRAC report is unwarranted and misleading. The company cites more than 30 years of research and safety reviews from around the world that found glyphosate safe, when used as instructed.

The claims alleged are broad, based in strict liability, negligence, and failure to warn. The plaintiffs claim that Monsanto has known for decades that the products were unsafe, and concealed this information from the public. They want the case to be decided by a jury, as they feel punitive damages are appropriate for Monsanto’s actions.

WHO Evaluates Carcinogenicity of 2,4-D Herbicide

On June 22, 2015 the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released an evaluation on the carcinogenicity of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D).

2,4-D, introduced in 1945, has been widely used to control weeds in agricultural, forestry, urban, and residential settings. Occupational exposure occurs during the manufacturing and application of the herbicide and the general public can be exposed through food, water, dust, and residential application. According to the report, humans expel 2,4-D mostly unchanged through urine.

The IRAC has evaluated 2,4-D to be “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, with “inadequate evidence in humans” and “limited evidence in experimental animals.” IRAC states that there is strong evidence that 2,4-D induces oxidative stress, as well as moderate evidence that 2,4-D can cause immunosuppression. The study did not find strong or consistent increases in cancer risks as a result of exposure to 2,4-D.

The IRAC also evaluated the insecticides lindane and DDT, categorizing the two as “carcinogenic to humans” and “probably carcinogenic to humans” respectively.

The summary of the evaluations can be found here. The full evaluations will be published as Volume 113 of the IARC Monographs. 

Written by Tyler R. Etter- Research Assistant

June 23, 2015