Sources told Sustainable Pulse that the EPA allegedly attempted 'to take the legal pressure off the pesticide industry and specifically large producers of glyphosate-based herbicides such as Monsanto.' (photo: EcoWatch)
'Mistaken'
Release of Glyphosate Report Raises Questions Over EPA's Ties to Monsanto
09 May 16
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee is questioning why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted and then suddenly pulled its highly anticipated risk assessment of glyphosate, the main ingredient in weedkillers such as Monsanto’s flagship herbicide Roundup.
On April 29, the
EPA’s Cancer Assessment Review Committee published a report online about
glyphosate concluding that the chemical is not likely carcinogenic to humans.
However, even though it was marked “Final” and was signed by 13 members of
CARC, the report disappeared from the website three days later.
The EPA said that
the report was “inadvertently” released. A spokeswoman said:
“Glyphosate
documents were inadvertently posted to the Agency’s docket. These documents
have now been taken down because our assessment is not final. EPA has not
completed our cancer review. We will look at the work of other governments as
well as work by HHS’s Agricultural Health Study as we move to make a decision
on glyphosate.
Our assessment will be peer reviewed and completed by end of
2016.”
Following the move,
committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) sent a letter on
March 4 to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy announcing that his committee is
launching an investigation into the matter and is asking that the EPA provide
all documents and communications related to the glyphosate study from Jan. 1,
2015 to present. He is giving the EPA until May 18 to provide this information.
Chairman @LamarSmithTX21 sent a letter to #EPAAdministrator McCarthy on CARC report http://1.usa.gov/26UbaZx
“The EPA’s
backtracking on the finality of its own science review committee’s report
raises concerns about the agency’s willingness to provide a fair assessment on
this matter,” Smith said. “That the EPA would remove a report, which was marked
as a ‘Final Report’ and signed by 13 scientists, appears to be yet another
example of this agency’s attempt to allow politics rather than science drive its
decision making. Sound, transparent science should always be the basis for
EPA’s decisions.”
“Furthermore, EPA’s
apparent mishandling of this report may shed light on larger systemic problems
occurring at the agency,” Smith’s letter states.
The EPA told DTN they were
unsure why the report was posted, calling it a “mistake.”
Glyphosate was
infamously declared a
probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) last year. The classification has sparked a growing number of
lawsuits over Monsanto’s widely used product, including a wrongful death lawsuit filed
in March by the widow of a Cambria, California farmer alleging that the St.
Louis-based company had known for years that exposure to glyphosate could cause
cancer and other serious illnesses or injuries.
The sudden yanking
of the report has raised eyebrows over the EPA’s relationship ties to
the agricultural industry. Sources told Sustainable Pulse that
the EPA allegedly attempted “to take the legal pressure off the
pesticide industry and specifically large producers of glyphosate-based
herbicides such as Monsanto,” by releasing the Cancer Assessment Review
Committee draft report.
According
to Sustainable Pulse Director Henry Rowlands, “The EPA’s ‘mistaken’
release of the main part of their report that is designed to protect the pesticide
industry seems rather a strange coincidence.”
“Glyphosate is now
on the agenda for consumers and farmers across the World. The discovery of the
herbicide in our bodies and our food at hormone hacking levels is very
alarming,” he added. “The EPA should be protecting us all by providing a fully
independent scientific analysis of the chemical. However, this is not what is
happening and the EPA is again working against public health protection.”
The chemical has
been detected in several products, from alcoholic
beverages and even women’s
hygiene products. Last month, the Alliance for Natural Health-USA released
the results of food safety testing conducted on an assortment
of popular breakfast foods, revealing that glyphosate was found in 10 of the
24 food samples tested, including oatmeal,
bagels, eggs (including the organic variety), potatoes and even
non-GMO soy coffee creamer.
The Center for
Biological Diversity also issued a statement last week accusing
the EPA of relying heavily on “industry-funded studies that
have not undergone public scrutiny” for its draft analysis.
“EPA’s determination
that glyphosate is non-carcinogenic is disappointing, but not terribly
surprising—industry has been manipulating this process for years,” Nathan
Donley, a scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said. “The
analysis done by the World Health Organization is more open and transparent and
remains the gold standard.”
Monsanto has
vehemently denied cancer claims of its blockbuster product and has demanded a
retraction of the IARC report.
Unsurprisingly, the
company was pleased with the release of the EPA’s report, telling Reuters after the documents had been removed that they were
“clearly labeled and signed as the final report of EPA’s Cancer Assessment
Review Committee.”
Monsanto’s chief
technology officer Robb Fraley tweeted,
“EPA declares (again) that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is not
a carcinogen.”
He added,
“This is the EPA’s highest ranking for product safety—they also do nice job of
explaining all of IARC’s mistakes.”
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