NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2018) The United States needs to establish an independent regulator to determine pesticide safety since the industry is closely tied to government agencies, founder of the Detox Project chemical research organization, Henry Rowlands, told Sputnik.
US chemical giant Monsanto has faced a deluge of lawsuits in recent years over cancer-causing pesticides. In early August, a Federal court ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million to a groundskeeper who developed cancer allegedly from exposure to an ingredient called glyphosate contained in the company's weed killer product. Monsanto's parent company Bayer disputed the ruling, arguing that US federal regulators had approved the use of the herbicide.
"Without a strong independent body to regulate pesticide safety it is difficult to make progress," Rowlands said. "In the US, sadly, the pesticide industry and the government, including the regulators, are strongly linked."
Rowlands, whose organization has conducted groundbreaking studies on glyphosate, said that the chemical industry's ties to the government have impeded progress on safety regulations that could prevent these types of tragedies.
"We believe a mixture of public testing and certification will give the public the opportunity to find out the truth," Rowlands said.
The Detox Project founder noted that there are a number of independent studies that link glyphosate to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other cancers.
Most of the studies, Rowlands added, were reviewed by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2015, when they classified glyphosate as a "probable human carcinogen."
High levels of glyphosate have also been found in 31 popular breakfast cereals, Rowlands pointed out.
Although comprehensive studies on the effects of the herbicide have yet to be conducted, glyphosate residue free certification and testing programs are already underway at Detox Project, he added.
Bayer completed the process of a $66-billion acquisition of Monsanto in June. Monsanto is the world's largest supplier of genetically modified seeds to increase crop yields, which also sells the most used pesticide worldwide, glyphosate. Bayer is the world's second largest supplier of pesticides, with a stronger focus on Europe.
Rowlands has also been an adviser on sustainable agriculture to a number of governments in the European Union.
