Current Reporting & Commentary on Glyphosate

CropLife Australia as the national peak industry body for the plant science sector welcomes open and informed discussion on the safety of crop protection products, including glyphosate. CropLife and our members strongly support the robust, rigorous and independent regulatory systems and assessments that these products are subjected to here in Australia. A regulatory system similarly rigorous to that applied to pharmaceuticals.

What is most concerning is the alarmist and significantly misinformed commentary on the safety of glyphosate following a recent San Francisco jury decision. Equal weight appears to be given to views of commentators with clever Twitter handles that have spent no more than two minutes researching the latest social media meme, to that of credible, highly qualified and globally respected medical and toxicological scientists with decades of experience and knowledge on this specific topic.

CropLife encourages all observers and commentators to refer and give primacy to the independent experts on these matters, instead of continuing to inadvertently perpetrate misunderstanding and misinformation and as a consequence escalate community concern unnecessarily. It should be noted that every single independent science based regulatory agency globally has comprehensively evaluated glyphosate and found it safe to use.

The following quotes from experienced, credible, independent, and respected experts are provided below to introduce some perspective and context to this current public discussion:

Paul Pharoah, Professor of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Cambridge

• “These medico-legal cases are always difficult to make because the concepts of risk and cause in a scientific sense are different to those concepts in a legal sense.” – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/14/australian-farmers-body-says-roundup-cancer-ruling-is-in-blatant-ignorance-of-science
• “The epidemiological evidence that glycophosphates are associated with an increased risk of lymphoma is very weak … From a purely scientific point of view I do not think that the judgement makes sense.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/14/australian-farmers-body-says-roundup-cancer-ruling-is-in-blatant-ignorance-of-science

Bernard Stewart, Cojoint Professor School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW; Scientific Advisor, Cancer Council Australia

• “Residues in food are so low for all chemicals and glyphosate too, that there is no cancer risk.” – http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-11-28/glyphosate-renewed-for-five-years-in-europe/9199740
• “And then there’s the even lesser risk of cancer from residual glyphosate, which has never been documented. Just forget it.” – https://theconversation.com/council-workers-spraying-the-weed-killer-glyphosate-in-playgrounds-wont-hurt-your-children-54831

Dr Ian Musgrave, Molecular Pharmacologist/Toxicologist, University of Adelaide

• “Science is not besotted by court cases and the actual scientific evidence we have shows that that link is not apparent at the concentrations humans use, under the conditions human use it.” – http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-11/cancer-council-monsanto-should-come-clean/10109760
• “My view and the view of most biological scientists and toxicologists is [when] used properly, it’s not dangerous” – https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/2018/8/12
• “In fact, the largest study of agricultural workers who use glyphosate showed no association between glyphosate and cancer.” – https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/the-project/2018/8/12

Andrew Bartholomaeus, Consultant toxicologist; Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine University of Queensland; Adjunct Professor Toxicology and Pharmacy, University of Canberra

• “Glyphosate has been tested in a very comprehensive package of toxicology studies, on multiple occasions … and consistently glyphosate is not a carcinogen in animal studies.” – http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2017-11-28/glyphosate-renewed-for-five-years-in-europe/9199740

Statement by Mr Matthew Cossey, Chief Executive Officer of CropLife Australia