December 2015
Dear Earthtalk: My neighbor uses
Roundup in her yard routinely and tells
me it’s harmless to people and pets, but
I’ve heard that it is carcinogenic. Can
you set the record straight?
– Maise Alexander, New Hope, PA
Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides
contain three key components: the
active ingredient glyphosate, water,
and a soap-like surfactant blend. The
agricultural application of glyphosate
has skyrocketed over the past 20 years.
According to the U.S. Geological
Survey’s “Estimated Agricultural Use
for Glyphosate” map, in 2012 over 250
million pounds of glyphosate were
used on crops in across the country—a
substantial increase from the less than
22 million pounds used in 1992.
OPEN FORUM
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the planning entities.
These points apply to all the
neighborhoods of Portland, all are part
of the Portland Comprehensive Plan
2035. The neighborhood coalitions, as
well as all the over 90 neighborhood
associations should careful review the
NEWS
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency has classified the cancer-causing
potential of glyphosate as Category
E (“evidence of non-carcinogenicity
for humans”), but the International
Agency for Research on Cancerrecently
re-classified it as a group 2A “probable”
carcinogen.
I A R C ’ s re c e n t e v a l u a t i o n o f
glyphosate found “limited evidence
of carcinogenicity in humans for non-
Hodgkin lymphoma” and “convincing
evidence that glyphosate also can cause
cancer in laboratory animals.”
Monsanto struck back, stating that the
IARC’s conclusion “conflicts with the
overwhelming consensus by regulatory
bodies and science organizations around
the world…which have found no
evidence of carcinogenicity.”
Monsanto added: “Further, the 2A
classification does not establish a link
between glyphosate and an increase in
cancer. ‘Probable’ does not mean that
glyphosate causes cancer; even at 100
times the exposure that occurs during
normal labeled use glyphosate is not a
human health risk.”
In September 2015, in response to the
IARC findings, the California EPA’s
Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment announced its intent to list
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
glyphosate as a carcinogen under the
state’s Proposition 65 law.
In California, businesses are required
to provide “a clear and reasonable
warning” before knowingly and
intentionally exposing anyone to a
Proposition 65 listed chemical.
Once a chemical is listed, businesses
have a year to comply with the warning
requirements. The agency accepted
public comments until Oct. 20 on
whether glyphosate should be listed
under Proposition 65.
“If they decide to list this chemical
[under Proposition 65] and it survives
the inevitable legal challenges, I think it’s
possible that every bottle of Roundup or
glyphosate formulation sold in the state
of California would have to be labeled
as known...to cause cancer,” Nathan
Donley, a staff scientist with the Center
for Biological Diversity, told Pacific
Standard.
“It would be a huge deterrent for the
purchase of this product, at least in that
state.” Donley added that Monsanto
has created a “false narrative” that
glyphosate is safe.
“That position clearly can’t be
maintained anymore…and I think
it will probably be a precursor for
hopefully federal action, at least federal
acknowledgment that glyphosate does
cause cancer.”
In addition to the threat of a warning
label on their glyphosate products in
California, Monsanto is currently facing
lawsuits by two people claiming that
Roundup caused their cancers.
Enrique Rubio filed suit on Sept. 22
in Los Angeles, claiming that the bone
cancer he was diagnosed with back
in 1995 was a result of spraying fields
of crops with Roundup and other
pesticides.
The second lawsuit, filed on the same
day in New York by Judi Fitzgerald,
claims she was exposed to Roundup
when she worked at a horticultural
products company in the 1990s.
Fitzgerald was diagnosed with leukemia
in 2012.
Contacts: Monsanto, www.monsanto.
com; EPA, www.epa.gov; IARC, www.
iarc.fr; Center for Biological Diversity,
www.biologicaldiversity.org.
EarthTalk® is produced by Doug Moss &
Roddy Scheer and is a registered trademark
of Earth Action Network Inc. E-mail your
question to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
effects of what our planners are doing
to us, and not necessarily for us.
Editor’s Note: Jerry L. Ward is an
architect and planner who lives in South
Portland. The Post welcomes reader
response. What’s your opinion? Write
us a letter (up to 300 words) or contact
Don Snedecor at 503-244-6933 or don@
multnomahpost.com if you are interested
in writing a guest column.
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