US Court Reprimands the EPA for neglecting its duty to the American people!

The court found that “EPA did not adequately consider whether glyphosate causes cancer and shirked its duties under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).”

You may have heard about the thousands of court cases by people with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that are pending against Bayer who now makes the popular weedkiller Round Up. In 2015, the World Health Organization declared that the active ingredient, glyphosate, is a probable carcinogen. And court cases have brought out evidence that Monsanto, the original owner of Round Up knew about this risk and chose to ignore it. Tens of millions of dollars have already been awarded to the first 3 plaintiffs in completed cases.

Last week the US 9th district court of appeals decision regarding glyphosate’s registration review criticized the EPA for neglecting its duties regarding protection of the environment and ignoring its own mandates regarding cancer causing substances.

In a previous Cancer Paper published by EPA, they concluded that there was in fact a 30-50% increased risk of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma with glyphosate. And a special advisory panel commissioned by the EPA expressed concerns about solid tumors produced in animal studies with exposure to glyphosate. The court therefore found that EPA’s recent statement that “glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer” is in direct opposition to their previous statements and findings and ordered this statement to be removed and reviewed.

In its original review in 2015, “EPA concluded that glyphosate may pose certain risks to mammals and birds.” EPA also determined that glyphosate may adversely affect terrestrial and aquatic plants, primarily from spray drift.” (1) This is especially important when you consider that “The nationwide acreage across which glyphosate is currently used is roughly equivalent to three times the size of California.” (1) A large portion of this is sprayed from planes over genetically modified crops designed to withstand glyphosate. Unintended consequences to neighboring pollinator habitats are a major concern. In this recent analysis of glyphosate’s effect on species on the Endanger Species Act (ESA) list, EPA concluded that glyphosate may affect all ESA-listed species that experience glyphosate exposure—that is, 1,795 species—and is likely to adversely affect 93% of those species. In fact, EPA’s interim decision to tentatively renew the registration was done without completing all mandatory analysis.

The court and EPA have agreed that EPA’s interim environmental review is rescinded. Since the final decision on renewal of registration of glyphosate is due in October of this year, the court mandated the new ecological portion to be completed by the October 2022 deadline.

• Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in the US.
• Over 280 million pounds are sprayed onto US farms each year.
• It is used to dry many crops just before harvest. These include wheat, oats, barley, edible beans
  and other crops.
• Organic versions of these crops should be the only ones you eat or feed to your pets.