A jury in California on Monday ordered Bayer-owned Monsanto to pay more than US$2 billion damages to a couple who sued on grounds the weed killer Roundup caused their cancer, lawyers said.
A US jury has found that one of the world's most widely-used weed-killers was a “substantial factor” in causing a man's cancer. Pharmaceutical group Bayer had strongly rejected claims that its glyphosate-based Roundup product was carcinogenic. But the jury in San Francisco ruled unanimously that it contributed to causing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in California resident Edwin Hardeman.
Analysts at Brazilian health agency Anvisa have determined that the weed-killer glyphosate does not cause cancer while recommending exposure limits as international pressure to reduce use of the chemical grows. Companies such as Bayer AG and its unit Monsanto, which produces glyphosate-based weed-killers, have faced legal challenges over allegations that glyphosate causes cancer. A new study published this month also links high exposure to cancer.
Brazil’s health agency has concluded a re-evaluation of the safety of the weed-killer glyphosate, the most widely-used agriculture chemical in the country, and will present the findings and recommended guidelines for its future use on Tuesday, an official said.
A Brazilian court this week overturned an injunction banning products containing the herbicide glyphosate, knocking down a previous ruling that had been set to disrupt the soy planting season set to begin this month.
Brazil’s Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi tweeted on Friday that he had incorrectly stated a day earlier that a court had lifted an injunction on products containing the widely used herbicide glyphosate and that a ruling was still pending.
A Brazilian court has lifted an injunction that had suspended registration in the country of products containing the agrochemical glyphosate, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Thursday on his official Twitter account.
A potential ban on the popular herbicide glyphosate in Brazil over concerns it may cause cancer in humans would be a “disaster” for the country’s agricultural industry, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi said on Thursday.
Pharmaceutical group Bayer has dismissed claims that an ingredient used in weed killers is carcinogenic. The German company, which owns agriculture giant Monsanto, says herbicides containing glyphosate are safe.
Argentina authorized the use of genetically modified soybean seeds resistant to herbicides other than glyphosate, as the European Union (EU) debates whether to extend the license of weed-killers containing the ingredient.