France is expected to join a growing list of countries and territories banning the sale of glyphosate, a chemical herbicide first sold as a product called Roundup by Monsanto in the 1970s. According to a news release by Reuters, France’s health and safety agency ANSES is going to withdraw authorization for it, which, most believe, means an outright ban is coming soon.
Glyphosate has been in widespread use since it was first introduced into agriculture, and health regulators generally agreed it had no serious adverse effects for human contact, that is until The World Health Organization (WHO) announced it was a probable carcinogen last year. The WHO made the declaration in March 2015 causing uproar in the media and perhaps amongst health agencies that immediately banned glyphosate in countries such as El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Bermuda and Columbia.
The herbicide remains in general use across the globe although many countries are now taking a closer look due to reports on glyphosate’s impact on the environment. More disturbing are recent reports that a 2014 meta-analysis of the previous reviews of scientific data found a correlation between occupational exposure to glyphosate formulations and increased risk of B cell lymphoma, the most prevalent form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Workers exposed to glyphosate were found to be almost twice as likely to get B cell lymphoma.
Further studies are already in process as health agencies worldwide again review the scientific data for human, animal and environmental safety.
