By Kurtis Doering

Sask. researcher surprised by WHO report on Roundup

Mar 25, 2015 | 7:51 AM

As farmers start planning out the coming crop year, there’s a new World Health Organization (WHO) report to be aware of.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, is now listed as “probably” carcinogenic, meaning there’s a chance it could cause cancer in humans.

Monsanto, which manufactures Roundup, issued an “urgent request” for WHO to account for which scientific studies were used in their analysis and which were “disregarded”.

Glyphosate has been found in the blood and urine of agricultural works, indicating that they have somehow absorbed the chemical. Glyphosate has been detected in the air during spraying, in water, and in food. The report only spoke of occupational exposure and agricultural workers, not recreational gardeners who would come into contact with Roundup.

Christian Willenborg studies herbicide use at the University of Saskatchewan Crop Sciences department. He said this WHO report came as a surprise.

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“(Glyphosate) has widely been regarded as one of the most safely-used herbicides in Western Canada, and indeed, parts of the world,” he said.

Willenborg characterized the chemical as “the most critical herbicide we have” because of its key role in no-till agricultural techniques, which can cut down significantly on soil erosion. For that reason, he doesn’t expect this report to have a very big impact on producers’ seeding and spraying decisions.

He also said the report’s linkages between glyphosate and cancer in humans are by no means conclusive.

“It was largely a literature review of previous studies. Those studies, and the conclusions based on them, are limited in nature. They also suggested that it was ‘probably’ carcinogenic, which attaches some uncertainty to their report.”

That said, Willenborg cautioned farmers not to outright dismiss the findings. He argues that the WHO often leads the charge on issues like this, and their reports often lead others to investigate further. Though farmers should use protective gear and limit exposure when dealing with any herbicide, glyphosate remains low on the danger scale compared to other farm chemicals.

-with files from News Talk Radio’s Courtney Markewich

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