Glyphosate was first classified as a possible human carcinogen in 1985 by the US EPA. But after years of persistent interventions by Monsanto, the agency changed its classification in 1991 into „evidence of non-carcinogenicity“ although the evidence for carcinogenicity has been strengthened in the meantime. In 2015, it was the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), that took a closer look at glyphosate that led to the classification as a probable human carcinogen. A link between glyphosate and cancer was also shown by academic research in 2019 and the French institute INSERM 2021. Nevertheless, the national regulatory agencies all around the world, stick to their classification of glyphosate as non-carcinogenic. A HEAL report published in June 2022 shows the scientific evidence indicating that glyphosate is carcinogenic has so far been dismissed in the EU scientific assessment. This report closely examined the 11 rats and mice studies provided by pesticide companies in 2019 as part of the application dossier. In 10 out of 11 studies, tumors were observed in animals exposed to glyphosate treatment.
Additionally, the public scientific literature links glyphosate exposure to other serious diseases. For example, in addition to its carcinogenicity potential, recent studies show that glyphosate and glyphosate products can be neurotoxic and may contribute to the development of Parkinson’s disease, can cause kidney disease and disrupt the human and animal microbiome. Maternal exposure to glyphosate has also been linked to spontaneous deliveries with shortened gestational length and abnormal development of reproductive organs in newborns.