Monsanto Really Wants California To Pull The Carcinogen Label From Glyphosate

Earlier this year, California became the first state to come up with a plan to label glyphosate, a common herbicidal chemical, as a carcinogen. Glyphosate is a major ingredient in Roundup, the branded herbicide produced by Monsanto.Since then, Monsanto has spoken out against the proposed label, and now they have officially submitted a comment to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)urging them to scrap the plan to label herbicides that contain glyphosate as carcinogenic. According to the agricultural technology company, the "state is not considering scientific evidence that points to the contrary."

"This action is unsupported by science, law, and policy," Monsanto's 15-page statement to OEHHA said. "No regulatory authority in the world has ever determined that glyphosate causes cancer. Indeed, OEHHA itself has closely reviewed the science and concluded: 'Based on the weight of evidence, glyphosate is judged unlikely to pose a cancer hazard to humans.'"

The OEHHA announced in September that it would be listing glyphosate under Proposition 65, an initiative that informs Californian residents of carcinogenic chemicals. The mandate came about after The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, rated glyphosate as a "probable carcinogen" following extensive research. 

Roundup is one of the most commonly used herbicides by farmers around the world, and as such Monsanto is strongly urging OEHHA to withdraw its proposal.