The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has not determined the level of risk associated with glyphosate that, in its opinion, justifies its ban in the European Union after the current authorization period, in a study submitted Thursday 6 July to the European Union. Committee, which angered many NGOs.
The study, which was presented on Thursday to European authorities, will serve as the basis for the European Union to decide whether or not to renew the herbicide license for five years. The current mandate runs through December 15.
sequel after announcement
Financial Supervision Authority No critical areas of concern have been identified. In a press release, she explains that glyphosate is in humans, animals, and the environment. In the scientific method of agency, anxiety is defined as “very important” When it affects all proposed uses of the evaluated active substance, and thus precludes its licensing.
Read also> Deformities Diseases .. Glyphosate is the worst health scandal of the 21st century
However, she pointed out ‘Long-term risk in mammals’ We described the proposed uses of glyphosate and acknowledged that a lack of data precluded any definitive analysis.
NGOs call for the application of the precautionary principle
But his conclusions displeased many environmental NGOs, who decried the failure to apply the precautionary principle. 30 of them, including on behalf of the environment or Réseau Action Climat, challenged the French government on Thursday.
sequel after announcement
“Given the widely documented risks to the environment and human health, it is all the more urgent that we implement the precautionary principle enshrined in European texts and the French constitution to put an end to glyphosate and finally start a real transition between agriculture and food.”, they write. Greenpeace for its part called The European Commission and Member States oppose the renewal of the mandate. Herbicides.
Pesticides: Why can’t we live without them?
In all, the report, which will be published in July, is based on 2,400 studies, spans 180,000 pages and calls for 90 experts from member states, the body says. However, he notes that he was unable to finalize certain aspects of his assessment, particularly with regard to the risks to aquatic plants, Lack of data on exposure to glyphosate.
Likewise, no final opinion is made regarding the risks associated with food consumption. “Because of incomplete data on the amount of glyphosate residues in rotating crops such as carrots, lettuce and wheat”. However, this should not result in exceeding toxicological safety levels. for humans Therefore, no material concerns have been identified.the agency insists.
Missing data
The FRA also notes the lack of data on the toxicity of one of the components in the formulation of the pesticide that contains glyphosate submitted for evaluation, emphasizing that there is no No indication of acute toxicity..
sequel after announcement
Finally, many questions are left unanswered, in particular the overall impact on biodiversity: if experts recognize the risks complex and dependent on multiple factors.EFSA appreciates that In general, the available information does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn.with a caveat ‘lack of coordinated methodologies’.
Glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in many herbicides, including the famous Monsanto Report, and widely used around the world, was classified in 2015 as ‘Potential carcinogen’ for humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization.
When Monsanto manipulated French farmers
A group of experts from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France later concluded in 2021 to “An increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a moderate hypothesis of association” with glyphosate. On the contrary, last year the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) ruled that available scientific evidence does not allow glyphosate to be classified as a carcinogen.
The Glyphosate France platform, which collects marketing preparations of companies based on this product in France, estimated on Thursday that the EFSA’s conclusion represents “A critical step in the approval renewal procedure”.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018 “bliss” The conclusions of the European Financial Supervisory Authority, believing that they lay the foundations “Successful readmission of glyphosate into the European Union”. Europe is not the only region in the world where the use of glyphosate is being discussed. In the United States, Bayer has paid billions of dollars to resolve disputes.
