Glyphosate increases cancer risk by 41%, study finds

According to a new analysis, glyphosate, a key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, increases the risk of cancer of highly exposed people by 41%.

The latest findings, based on the results of six previous herbicide studies, have shown that the chemical significantly increases the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma – the type of cancer touching Dewayne Johnson, a former school gardener who regularly used Roundup.

"All the meta-analyzes done to date, including ours, consistently report the same thing: exposure to GBH (glyphosate herbicides) is associated with an increased risk of NHL," the authors wrote. authors of the report of the University of Washington. .

Previous research has revealed a link between Glyphosate and shorter pregnancies, and thousands of cancer patients have alleged that Roundup against weeds was a factor in their cancers.

Last year, a court awarded Dewayne Johnson nearly $ 300 million, which was later reduced to $ 78 million, as part of a lawsuit against Monsanto. The jury found that the company did not warn the consumer and other consumers of the risks of the product.

"There are real concerns"

Bayer, the company that bought Monsanto last year, said "hundreds of studies indicate that glyphosate does not cause cancer." The latest research seems to contradict this statement.

"This research provides the most recent analysis of glyphosate and its relationship to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, incorporating a 2018 study of more than 54,000 people working as licensed pesticide applicators," said the co-author. and doctoral candidate Rachel Shaffer at a statement.

The researchers said that they were focusing on the people most exposed to the herbicide because if Roundup was not carcinogenic, as Bayer claims, even a high degree of exposure should not increase the risk of cancer.

"From a population health perspective, there are real concerns," said Lianne Sheppard, a co-author of the study.

In a statement, Bayer said the new analysis "provides no scientifically valid evidence that contradicts the findings of many scientific studies demonstrating that glyphosate herbicides are not carcinogenic".

The company said the analysis used the use of "statistical manipulations" and that it contained "serious methodological flaws".

The new research was published in Research on mutation.