Monsanto Wants Retraction for Disputed IARC Glyphosate Health Review

02 Jun Monsanto Wants Retraction for Disputed IARC Glyphosate Health Review

Reference: http://www.agriculture.com/crops/pesticides/herbicides/monsto-wts-retraction-f-disputed-iarc_179-ar48082

Monsanto officials came out swinging at a teleconference today, with officials criticizing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reporting that glyphosate (Roundup’s active ingredient) is probably carcinogenic to humans.

“It is not a new study,” says Phil Miller, Monsanto’s vice president of global regulatory affairs. “It is a review of existing information.” All other reviews — including those by the Environmental Protection Agency — give glyphosate positive marks when it comes to human health.

Brett Begemann, Monsanto’s president and chief operating officer, says any scientific analysis must be based on an unbiased and rigorous scientific process.

“This, sadly, falls terribly short,” he says. “It is inconsistent with decades of ongoing regulatory reviews that has deemed that all labeled uses of glyphosate are safe. It will unnecessarily alarm consumers, farmers, and the public at large.”
Keith Solomon, professor emeritus and fellow, Academy of Toxicological Sciences, University of Guelph, says the report is akin to a movie trailer.

“It is hard to judge a movie by looking at the trailer, and when I do, I have always been disappointed,” he says. It’s the same way with the IARC report, adding that it goes against thorough and critical reviews done by many regulatory agencies.
Miller says Monsanto wants a retraction and justification from IARC on how the report varies so widely from what has previously been reported. “We are having a hard time understanding how they came to this conclusion,” he says.
The good news for Monsanto is that IARC’s report will not impact Roundup’s regulatory status, says Miller. “IARC is not a regulatory authority,” he says.

Nor does Monsanto expect a decline in glyphosate sales, as farmers continue to find it to be an excellent tool for maintaining productivity, says Begemann.
“We have a large amount of data showing the safety of glyphosate,” he says. “It (the IARC report) should have no impact on sales.”