Published on Monsant o Newsroom (ht t p://news.monsant o.

com) on Friday March 20, 2015

Monsanto Disagrees with IARC Classification for

Glyphosate
T erms:
Published Date and T ime:
Friday March 20, 2015
As consumers ourselves, safet y is a priorit y for every person who works at Monsant o. And, we want t o be clear: All labeled
uses of glyphosat e are safe for human healt h and support ed by one of t he most ext ensive worldwide human healt h
dat abases ever compiled on an agricult ural product . In fact , every glyphosat e-based herbicide on t he market meet s t he
rigorous st andards set by regulat ory and healt h aut horit ies t o prot ect human healt h.
We join fellow members of bot h t he EU and U.S. glyphosat e t askforces in our disagreement wit h IARCs classificat ion for
several reasons:
There is no new research or dat a here. Each of t he st udies considered by IARC have been previously reviewed and
considered by regulat ory agencies most recent ly by t he German government on behalf of t he European Union.
Relevant , scient ific dat a was excluded from review. IARC received and purposefully disregarded dozens of scient ific
st udies specifically genet ic t oxicit y st udies t hat support t he conclusion glyphosat e is not a human healt h risk.
The conclusion is not support ed by scient ific dat a. IARCs classificat ion is inconsist ent wit h t he numerous mult i-year,
comprehensive assessment s conduct ed by hundreds of scient ist s from count ries worldwide who are responsible for
ensuring public safet y.
IARCs classificat ion does not est ablish a link bet ween glyphosat e and an increase in cancer. It s import ant t o put
IARCs classificat ions int o perspect ive. IARC has classified numerous everyday it ems in Cat egory 2 including coffee, cell
phones, aloe vera ext ract and pickled veget ables, as well as professions such as a barber and fry cook.
We t ake great pride in t he science behind, and safet y of, our product s. We are commit t ed t o developing product s t hat
cont ribut e t o safe and nut rit ious food choices for all consumers. And, we are reaching out t o t he World Healt h Organizat ion
(WHO) t o underst and how, despit e t he wealt h of exist ing science on glyphosat e, t he IARC panel could make a classificat ion
t hat disagrees wit h scient ific and regulat ory reviews.
We believe conclusions about a mat t er as import ant as human safet y MUST BE non-biased, t horough and based on qualit y
science t hat adheres t o int ernat ionally recognized st andards. We join ot hers in viewing IARCs process and it s assessment
wit h st rong skept icism. IARC has previously come under crit icism for bot h it s process and demonst rat ed bias.
We urge anyone who want s t o know more about glyphosat e t o look at t he conclusions reached by regulat ory aut horit ies in
developed count ries t hat rigorously consider all available dat a, published and unpublished, in a comprehensive evaluat ion. You
can also learn more at www.monsant o.com/iarc-roundup.
Statement fro m Dr. Philip Miller, Vice President Glo bal Regulato ry Affairs, Mo nsanto
"As consumers ourselves, t he safet y of our product s is paramount t o each of us who work at Monsant o, and our company is
built on a foundat ion of science. All labeled uses of glyphosat e are safe for human healt h and support ed by one of t he most
ext ensive worldwide human healt h dat abases ever compiled on an agricult ural product .
As recent ly as January, t he German government complet ed a rigorous, four-year evaluat ion of glyphosat e for t he European
Union. They reviewed all t he dat a IARC considered, plus significant ly more, and concluded glyphosat e was unlikely t o pose a
carcinogenic risk in humans.
We join fellow members of bot h t he EU and U.S. glyphosat e t askforces in our disagreement wit h t his classificat ion for
several reasons: t here is no new research or dat a t hat was used; t he most relevant , scient ific dat a was excluded from
review; t he conclusion is not support ed by scient ific dat a; and t here is no link bet ween glyphosat e and an increase in cancer
when t he full dat a set is included in a rigorous review.
We dont know how IARC could reach a conclusion t hat is such a dramat ic depart ure from t he conclusion reached by all
regulat ory agencies around t he globe. We have issued an urgent request for appropriat e personnel of t he WHO t o sit down
wit h t he global glyphosat e t askforces and ot her regulat ory agencies t o account for t he scient ific st udies used in t heir
analysis and, equally as import ant , t o account for t hose scient ific st udies t hat were disregarded.
It is imperat ive for societ y t hat conclusions about a mat t er as import ant as human safet y be non-biased, t horough and
based on science t hat adheres t o int ernat ionally recognized st andards. The one t hing about t rue science is t hat it is not
select ive. Unfort unat ely, t his review does not meet t he st andards used by respect ed agencies around t he world."

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