Pesticide have always been considered dangerous and people wondered how much they can affect their health. However, this claims turned into legal allegations in the United States when more than 180 plaintiffs claimed that they were exposed to the Monsanto weed killer and this gave them cancer. Monsanto denied these claims, but there was no real proof until now.
A study has analysed these claims, and the effect that pesticides have when it comes to human health. They study was large and long-term and it discovered that there aren’t any associations with “ any solid tumors or lymphoid malignancies overall, including non-Hogkin Lymphoma . . . and its subtypes.”
Pesticide exposure does not cause cancer
The results of the study were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and the research is part of the Agricultural Health Study. The researchers discovered that there is not link between pesticides and cancer, despite the fact that there was “some evidence of increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia . . . among the highest exposed group.” Nevertheless, that was “not statistically significant.”
These findings can help in the Monsanto case, but they can have bigger consequences. The European Union countries have to decide whether glyphosate will be relicensed for sale across the EU, and this decision might be influenced by the study.
In fact, the countries were to supposed to make this decision a while ago, but World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer analysed glyphosate in 2015 and revealed that it was “probably carcinogenic”. This new study might change the general view on pesticides, especially since the European Food Safety Authority has also come to the conclusion the glyphosate is safe enough to use and it should not harm humans.
