Glyphosate. Risk of lymphoma grows by 41% among the most exposed, according to a study
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
An American scientific study indicates a sharp increase in the onset of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among workers exposed to glyphosate.
Glyphosate. Risk of lymphoma grows by 41% among the most exposed, according to a study
An American scientific study indicates a sharp increase in the onset of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among workers exposed to glyphosate.
Exposure to glyphosate – the substance at the heart of the pesticide Roundup, produced by Monsanto (now Bayer) – significantly increases the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Among those who work in direct contact with the product, the incidence of the serious disease is 41 per cent higher than normal.
The researchers: "The results we obtained are very convincing"
This is the conclusion of a study published in the scientific journal ScienceDirect, written by a group of researchers from the universities of Berkeley and Seattle, together with the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. "The results we obtained are very convincing," Emanuela Taioli, an epidemiology professor who took part in the research, told the French daily Le Monde.
#Glyphosate : une étude montre une nette augmentation du risque de #lymphome #cancer #hcsmeufr sco.lt/693IMy
The paper analysed data from six existing studies and took into consideration exposure to glyphosate-based products (not, therefore, to the pure chemical compound), under real conditions of use. It also takes into account the conclusions reached by the World Health Organisation in 2015, when it classified the substance as "probably carcinogenic".
By processing the data from research carried out to date, it has been possible to provide a "statistical weight" to the evidence found so far by studies conducted in the United States, Canada, Sweden and France. The results of studies carried out on mice were also added to these.
Read also: Glyphosate. The story of Martin, a student who eats organic and is still contaminated
Bayer: "The study combines incompatible data"
"All of the meta-analyses conducted so far – Taioli added – including ours, lead to the same conclusion. Namely that exposure to glyphosate-based products is associated with a statistically significant increase in the onset of non-Hodgkin lymphoma." According to a statement sent by Bayer to Le Monde, however, the publication "provides no new epidemiological data" and "combines incompatible data", comparing "apples with oranges".
Weedkiller 'raises risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 41%' Study says evidence ‘supports link’ between exposure to glyphosate and increased risk ow.ly/K7hl30nLR6m ...via @guardian #SafetyWatch #RoundUp #WeedKiller #Cancer #nonhodgkinlymphoma
What is certain, however, is that the study by Taioli's team will be cited in the legal proceedings initiated in the United States by people suffering from lymphoma. These amount to as many as 9,000 lawsuits, among them that of Dewayne Johnson, the American gardener whose case made front pages around the world. It led to Monsanto being ordered to pay compensation of 289 million dollars (a penalty later reduced to 78 million).