Regulation of Monsanto's 'Roundup' Called Into Question by Emails
March 15 2017 - 3:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Jacob Bunge
The European Chemicals Agency on Wednesday said glyphosate, the
key chemical in Monsanto Co.'s flagship herbicide, doesn't cause
cancer, but the agricultural giant is facing new questions over the
safety of the weedkiller.
Emails among company employees, released this week as part of a
continuing lawsuit over the herbicide, reflect what the plaintiffs'
attorneys say was the company's inappropriate role in shaping
research and a cozy relationship with regulators at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Monsanto argued the emails were
taken out of context.
Glyphosate, which Monsanto invented and has marketed since 1974
under the brand "Roundup," is the world's most widely used
herbicide. Its use proliferated with the advent of corn and
soybeans genetically engineered to survive the spray. It has been
deployed to destroy everything from illegal coca crops in Colombia
to weeds sprouting among railroad tracks. Monsanto generated $3.5
billion in sales last year from its agricultural-productivity
division, which largely reflects its Roundup business.
Scrutiny of glyphosate has grown since 2015, when the
International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World
Health Organization, said glyphosate can likely cause cancer in
humans. That finding ran counter to earlier conclusions by the EPA
and other chemical regulators, and was rebuked by Monsanto and
agriculture groups.
On Wednesday, Monsanto said the European Chemicals Agency's
finding matched the view of every other chemical regulatory body
world-wide.
Monsanto's internal emails were released as part of a case,
brought in a federal court in California by a group of farmers and
farmworkers, that alleges that Monsanto failed to warn of
glyphosate's alleged cancer risks. The emails show a Monsanto
employee describing a senior EPA official telling Monsanto he
wanted to block a planned glyphosate review by another government
agency.
EPA representatives didn't comment immediately.
Other emails include a 2015 message from Dr. William Heydens, a
senior Monsanto regulatory scientist, who suggested to colleagues
that "we ghost-write" sections of a potential study on glyphosate.
He suggested a 2000 study had been handled similarly. Lawyers
pursuing the case against Monsanto argue that the communications
proved the company's "deceptive authorship practice" of scientific
reviews.
Monsanto denied that its scientists secretly wrote review
papers. In court testimony released by Monsanto, Dr. Heydens said
he made "minor editorial contributions to that 2000 paper that do
not mount to the level of a substantial contribution or an
intellectual contribution." Monsanto said he was recognized in the
paper's acknowledgments, rather than as an author.
"These were unfortunate words, but this is not substantive,"
said Scott Partridge, Monsanto's vice president of global strategy.
He said Monsanto would continue to fight the case.
In a separate case spurred by the IARC classification, the
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, which
evaluates hazardous substances, moved to list glyphosate among
chemicals known to cause cancer and require a warning label on jugs
containing the chemical. Monsanto contested that move in state
court, but suffered a setback on Friday when a judge dismissed
Monsanto's case.
A company spokeswoman said Monsanto plans to appeal.
"The allegation that glyphosate can cause cancer in humans is
inconsistent with decades of comprehensive safety reviews by the
leading regulatory authorities around the world," a Monsanto
spokeswoman said.
Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 15, 2017 15:14 ET (19:14 GMT)
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