FOLLOWING months after a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) aligned International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC), claiming the herbicide glyphosate is likely to be carcinogenic, WHO has come out and said glyphosate is unlikely to pose a cancer threat to humans.
In a joint report between WHO and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), researchers found glyphosate, the world's most commonly used herbicide, is unlikely to create a cancer risk to humans exposed to crops treated with the product. The conclusions go against the earlier report, which categorised glyphosate as a Group 2a carcinogen.
However, other agencies, including the US-based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have made findings similar to the FAO/WHO report, saying glyphosate was unlikely to cause cancer and that it had low toxicity for humans.
There are big stakes at play at present, with the EU currently in the process of deciding whether to re-register glyphosate.
Gregor Heard
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
National grains writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
