A Canadian toxicologist says the World Health Organization made a critical scientific error in its decision to classify glyphosate as a probable carcinogen–in key measure by misrepresenting the results of one of his studies they said they used during their evaluation.
After reviewing the scientific literature, the experts with the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in Roundup, as Group 2A: probably carcinogenic to humans.
In a brief statement explaining the new designation, the scientists cited a number of research papers, such as a study on rural Colombians who were exposed to a spray of Roundup.
IARC said the study demonstrated that glyphosate can cause genotoxicity, or DNA damage, and cause cellular mutations that may result in cancer.
Keith Solomon, a University of Guelph professor emeritus and a globally recognized authority on pesticides, said the conclusion is “totally wrong.” Solomon should know because he wrote the Colombian study.
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“They stated there was evidence of genotoxicity and they quoted one paper to support that statement,” Solomon said. “They (IARC) got this totally wrong. They said the study showed there was a relationship…. It’s certainly a different conclusion than the one we came to.”
Solomon and an international team of scientists conducted a study on glyphosate in Colombia in the early 2000s as part of a Colombian government program to destroy illegal coca fields in the countryside.
Read full, original article: Toxicologist pans UN glyphosate report
