Are the EPA and big agricultural groups defending glyphosate because they need to maintain business as usual?
Should the public be concerned about cancer and hormone effects from Roundup?
The short answer to either question is an emphatic no. EPA and health agencies around the world have reviewed hundreds of experimental animal and human studies on glyphosate and come to a near unanimous conclusion: Roundup does not cause cancer and, when used according to directions, is safe at the occasional, tiny levels found in our food.
For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a 2016 report that found no pesticide residue levels high enough to pose any human health risks, even for infants. Specifically, the USDA tested for pesticides in 10,619 samples of food.
The one exception to the otherwise unanimous conclusion on the safety of Roundup by U.S. and other health organizations was that drawn by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in France. Importantly, judgments by this group are not peer reviewed. Other items included in IARC classifications are eating red meat, exposure to emissions from high frying temperatures and working as a hair-dresser or barber.
