Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the world's most widely used weedkiller. However, it has been linked to adverse effects, including cancers such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A new study suggests it may also be linked to mental health problems. The manufacturer, Bayer, has agreed settlements in nearly 100,000 Roundup cancer claims, paying approximately £8billion. The UK government is set to decide later this year whether to renew the safety licence for glyphosate.
Spring has sprung and garden centres and DIY stores around the country are packed with customers seeking new plants – and something to tackle the weeds.
For this, many will turn to Roundup, the world’s most widely used weedkiller. The choice of home gardeners, farmers and many local councils alike, Roundup contains glyphosate, which is absorbed through a plant’s leaves and travels down to the roots, where it blocks an enzyme the plant needs to make proteins – so starving it to death.
That makes it brutally effective on deep-rooted weeds such as bindweed and dock, which is why gardeners have relied on it for half a century. But increasingly research is linking it to adverse effects, for instance, cancers such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma (a cancer of the lymph system). And now a new study suggests the chemical may also be linked to mental health problems such as chronic anxiety and even dementia.
This could be down to its effect on the gut microbiome, say researchers at the University of Puerto Rico, writing in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology. They have warned it kills off Lactobacillus, an important strain of bacteria in the gut that helps the body produce serotonin, a chemical messenger vital for mood control.
Organic wine maker Nick Dugmore, 41, says that glyphosate caused his bowel and lung cancer Meanwhile, a major study that’s repeatedly been cited by Roundup’s maker, Monsanto, to prove its safety has recently been retracted by the science journal that published it. This extraordinary development came after an investigation by a Harvard University researcher, which exposed that the ‘independent’ study had actually been ghostwritten – crafted with the help of Monsanto employees, but published under an expert’s name.
Against this background, the UK government is set to decide later this year whether to renew the safety licence for glyphosate – and will be asking the public for their view. With evidence that glyphosate residues end up in food, campaigners hope that its use will at least be restricted for UK farming crops. So how safe is glyphosate – either in your garden, or on the fields where our foods is grown?
For the past decade glyphosate has been dogged by its potential link to cancer. In 2015 the World Health Organisation concluded that from a review of published scientific evidence, glyphosate is ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’ – possibly through exposure from the air, or on the skin, or via food.
Then in 2018 a jury in California awarded £226millon in damages to school groundsman Dewayne Johnson, who claimed that Roundup products had caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The jury found that Monsanto knew that Roundup weedkiller is dangerous and had failed to warn consumers.
More recently, in March this year researchers at Nebraska University – who reviewed a number of studies on glyphosate over the previous five years – concluded data provided ‘consistent, coherent and compelling evidence’ that glyphosate herbicides are a cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans exposed to them, reported the journal Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma & Leukemia. The manufacturer has always disputed the link.
It has, however, agreed settlements in nearly 100,000 other Roundup cancer claims, paying approximately £8billion, according to the US Lawsuit Information Centre. Last year Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, announced that around 61,000 active Roundup lawsuits were pending in the US. It now says ‘those numbers are no longer accurate – in part because we reached some confidential settlements’
Glyphosate Roundup Weedkiller Cancer Mental Health Gut Microbiome Bayer Monsanto UK Government Safety Licence Campaigners Glyphosate Residues UK Farming Crops
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The controversial use of Roundup, its link to cancer and mental health problems, and the UK safety license debateThis news text delves into the widespread use of Roundup as a weedkiller, its potential link to various health issues, and the UK government's plan to reassess the safety license. It also highlights the ghostwritten study and the ongoing legal battles surrounding glyphosate.
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