(Washington) A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration decision that the active ingredient in Roundup weed killer does not pose a serious health risk and is “unlikely” to cause cancer in humans.
Posted at 8:37
Matthew Daly Associated Press
The California-based US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its 2020 finding that glyphosate posed no health risk to people exposed to it, such as in yards, farms, by roadsides or similar residues on the crops.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the world’s most widely used herbicide. Pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which acquired original herbicide maker Monsanto in 2018, is facing thousands of lawsuits from people who say exposure to Roundup caused their cancer.
Roundup is still for sale. According to an agency spokesman, EPA officials are reviewing the 54-page ruling “and will decide on next steps.” The Supreme Court is also considering hearing an appeal from Bayer that could end thousands of cancer lawsuits.
Speaking on behalf of a unanimous three-person panel, Judge Michelle Friedland said the EPA’s conclusion of no risk to human health “was not supported by substantive evidence.” It also ruled that the EPA failed to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act by inadequately reviewing glyphosate’s effects on animal species and vegetation.
Legal critics have claimed that the EPA “evaded its obligations under the Endangered Species Act. We concur and are referring the agency for further review,” wrote Judge Friedland, a candidate for former President Barack Obama.
The Center for Food Safety, one of the groups appealing the ruling, called Friday’s ruling a “historic victory for farm workers and the environment.”
The ruling “gives a voice to those suffering from glyphosate cancer,” said Amy van Saun, the center’s lead attorney.
“The EPA’s conclusion on the risk of ‘no cancer’ failed scrutiny,” she said. The court agreed that the EPA must ensure the safety of endangered species before giving the green light to glyphosate. »
While the EPA said it found no evidence of a cancer risk from glyphosate, California and other states listed it as a cancer risk, and local governments across the country restricted its use.
Glyphosate is not banned in Canada, but some cities such as Laval and Montreal have banned it on their territory.
In 2015, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the chemical as “probably carcinogenic.”
Bayer announced last year that it would phase out glyphosate from the U.S. home lawn and garden market by 2023.
Bayer said in a statement late Friday that the EPA’s 2020 conclusion “is based on a rigorous review of more than 40 years of scientific data.” The company believes the EPA “will continue to conclude, as it and other agencies have consistently done for more than four decades, that glyphosate herbicides are safe to use and not carcinogenic,” the statement said.
Last year, Bayer committed $4.5 billion to fight claims that glyphosate causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer. The company had previously posted nearly $10 billion in losses from previous lawsuits.
“EPA’s failure to act scientifically, as described in the litigation, has adverse consequences for the health of farm workers, the public and real-world ecosystems,” said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, a plaintiff in the case. “As a result of this lawsuit, the obstruction of the regulatory process by the authority is not permitted. »