Global Scientists Say Regulators Must Address Glyphosate’s Strong Links to Health Harms

(SEATTLE) – International experts who gathered March 25 and 26 at the Seattle Glyphosate Symposium are calling on regulators around the world, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and European Food Safety Agency (EFSA), to address glyphosate’s well-documented harms to human health and its links to cancer and other chronic diseases.

The call for stronger, science-based regulatory action came from leading scientists, legal experts and communicators who met at the University of Washington to explore the latest research on the public health risks of glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in popular weed killers like Roundup.

“The evidence that glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) harm human health at levels of current use is now so strong that no additional delays in regulation of glyphosate can be justified,” said Kurt Straif, a research professor at Boston College and expert in global cancer control.

The specialists came together to update the 2016 paper “Concerns over use of glyphosate-based herbicides and risks associated with exposures: A consensus statement.” The full findings of the group, which included leading specialists in epidemiology, toxicology, cancer and risk assessment, will be detailed in a peer-reviewed paper expected to be published later this year.