The EU is currently assessing the World Health Organisation International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) research on glyphosate – an active ingredient found in the weed killer known as Roundup which is produced by Monsanto and widely used in Malta, among other countries. The EU is expected to re-evaluate the glyphosate in terms of the classification of the pesticide active ingredient, The Malta Independent on Sunday is informed.

The IARC said that glyphosate was probably carcinogenic to humans. This is just one step below the risk designation of ‘known carcinogen’. But biotech giant Monsanto has requested WHO to retract its statement.

Glyphosate is widely used in the world, including Malta, except for a few local councils that have banned its use in their locality. The product is also used to kill weeds which grow on roundabouts.

This newsroom has been following developments in relation to the WHO study on glyphosate ever since the results were published earlier this year.

Aaron Blair, a scientist emeritus at the National Cancer Institute who chaired the 17-member working group of the IARC that classified glyphosate, reportedly said: “We looked at, ‘Is there evidence that glyphosate causes cancer?’ and the answer is ‘probably.’ That is different than yes… It is different than smoking and lung cancer. We don’t say smoking probably causes cancer. We say it does cause cancer. At one point we weren’t sure, but now we are.”

The glyphosate issue is turning out to be one of those cases where it would be hard to establish whether it causes cancer but in the years to come it might be established that it does cause cancer, but the harm would have been done.

A similar situation is the case of cell phone antenna repeaters which sparked an ongoing debate on whether such antennas do cause cancer, despite claims made locally that they do not pose any health risks to the public. 

Glyphosate is used in more than 750 different herbicide products

Glyphosate is used in more than 750 different herbicide products and its use has been detected in the air during spraying, in water and in food. IARC’s panel said glyphosate was found in the blood and urine of agricultural workers, showing the chemical had been absorbed by the body.

 

Maltese authorities following developments on herbicide-cancer link

A few days after the WHO report declaring a link between Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’ herbicide and cancer, the Maltese authorities said that they were to discuss whether it will stop the widespread use of the herbicide.

The issue was meant to be raised in a meeting between the Directorate of Environmental Health and the Malta Consumer and Competition Authority.

The health secretariat told this newsroom that the herbicide is regulated under the Pesticides Control Act and that licences are issued for its use to contractors every three years. It said that while it is constantly monitoring WHO’s developments on the subject and that it will take action accordingly, the secretariat had not ruled out that a new clause may be created to prevent contractors from using this particular herbicide.

The secretariat’s comments to The Malta Independent on Sunday came after we quizzed the health authorities on whether it intends raising the alarm and taking action following the most recent revelations about the weed killer.

Interestingly, the biotech giant – Monsanto – reportedly called on the agency to issue a ‘retraction’ on its classification of its product.

It had strongly disagreed with WHO’s decision. “All labelled uses of glyphosate are safe for human health,” Monsanto's Phil Miller, global head of regulatory and government affairs, reportedly said in a statement.

The WHO report – which was published in the medical journal The Lancet – read that after 17 experts from 11 countries met at the international agency for research and cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France to access the carcinogenicity of the ingredients used in the herbicide, the experts concluded that the herbicide glyphosate and the insecticides malathion and diazinon are to be classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. With regard to glyphosate, the official document concludes that there is “sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals. Glyphosate also caused DNA and chromosomal damage in human cells”.

 

FoE Malta 2013 lab test findings

In June 2013, tests carried out by Friends of The Earth Malta (FoE) concluded that nine out of 10 urine samples from tested people in Malta contained traces of the weed killer glyphosate. The FoE findings were published in The Malta Independent on Sunday.

The results of laboratory tests carried out across Europe were published for the first time in June 2013, coincidentally the same week this newspaper had been investigating reports related to the use of Roundup in Malta and its effects, after a bee keeper, who preferred not to be named, raised the alarm to this paper.

However, doubts were cast on the study’s reliability since only 10 samples were taken in the case of Malta, and an average of 12 tests were carried out in other European countries.

FoE had issued a statement shortly after saying it could confirm that the test followed a standard scientific methodology and samples were sent to a reputable lab in Germany together with other samples from 17 other European countries.

Despite the widespread use of glyphosate, governments rarely monitor its presence in food or water.

According to FoE, glyphosate is widely used by farmers in Europe to clear weeds from fields before planting, or before seeds have germinated.

Prior to the FoE’s findings, the Environment Ministry had explained to this newspaper that the product in question is legally authorised as a herbicide and any professional in the field using such products must hold a valid licence issued by the authority to use plant protection products while having to abide by the conditions mentioned on the label.

“The technical data displayed on the product states that the greatest risk (when used as per the conditions laid down on the label) is faced by the user and not so much the bystanders since the product degrades rapidly once it comes into contact with soil.

“The regulations on sustainable use of pesticides require that the application of plant protection products in urban zones should be done when there is low human activity. Moreover, local authorities recommend that physical means of weed control are used as much as possible instead of using herbicides,” the ministry said

One of the precautionary measures displayed on the label of the glyphosate-based weed killer recommends that the product is only used in good weather and in temperatures not exceeding 25º Celsius.

The fact that the product cannot be used in temperatures exceeding 25°Celsius and that it can only be applied in fine weather raises questions as to when the herbicide can actually be applied safely in Malta since the only time the weather is relatively calm is during the summer months when temperatures exceed 25 degrees.