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In the meta-badysis, Luoping Zhang, of the University of California at Berkeley, and his team continued to question whether people using plant protection products containing glyphosate (such as farmers and gardeners) were at increased risk to contract non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). ), a form of cancer of the lymph nodes. To this end, scientists evaluated updated data from the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a large-scale cohort study and five case-control studies.
The researchers concluded that people most exposed to phytopharmaceuticals containing glyphosate contracted NHL more often than people with little or no exposure. According to the authors, this result is corroborated by previous experiments on animals and by "mechanistic" studies in which the causes were sought. It is suggested that there is a "convincing" link between the uptake of phytopharmaceutical products based on glyphosate and an increased risk of NHL.
The BfR has a different opinion. Although the meta-badysis with its reference to plant protection products based on glyphosate is interesting from a scientific point of view, it involves a great deal of uncertainty: it has not been possible to determine with sufficient precision in which studies the quantity of glyphosate that the study participants were actually exposed. It should also be noted that, according to the current state of knowledge, US farmers may be more in contact with plant protection products containing glyphosate (eg because larger areas are being treated or because they are often sprayed with plane).
Several case-control studies used by Zhang and his colleagues revealed an increased risk of NHL. However, these studies should be given only very limited attention when evaluating the active ingredient, glyphosate, as no distinction can be made between glyphosate and the various co-organisms. formulants contained in the products that have been disseminated. In addition, in several studies, it has not been sufficiently taken into account that farmers have also been exposed to other plant protection products.
Although the meta-badysis presents a weak link between the uptake of glyphosate-based phytopharmaceutical products and the risk of NHL, this result implies considerable uncertainty in the corresponding studies. Therefore, when all results are considered together, a causal link between exposure to the active substance glyphosate (contact with) and the onset of NHL has still not been substantiated, from there. BfR opinion.
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