Glyphosate, a synthetic herbicide patented in 1974 by the Monsanto Company and now manufactured and sold by many companies in hundreds of products, has been associated with cancer and many other health concerns discussed in this fact sheet. Glyphosate is best known as the active ingredient in Roundup-branded herbicides, and the herbicide used with “Roundup … Glyphosate: Cancer and other health concerns
Internal documents reveal how pesticide firms led attacks on scientists from under the cover of front groups connected to the climate science denial network.
By Stacy Malkan (updated May 17, 2019) DeWayne Johnson, a 46-year-old father dying of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, was the first person to face Monsanto in trial in 2018 over allegations the company hid evidence about the cancer-causing dangers of its Roundup weedkiller. Juries have since returned with three unanimous verdicts finding that glyphosate-based Roundup herbicides were … Secret Documents Expose Monsanto’s War on Cancer Scientists
In a well-orchestrated and highly coordinated media coup, Monsanto Co. and friends this week dropped a bombshell on opponents who are seeking to prove that the company’s beloved Roundup herbicide causes cancer. A widely circulated story published June 14 in the global news outlet Reuters (for which I formerly worked) laid out what appeared to … Monsanto Spin Doctors Target Cancer Scientist In Flawed Reuters Story
By Carey Gillam Monsanto Co. and officials within the Environmental Protection Agency are fighting legal efforts aimed at exploring Monsanto’s influence over regulatory assessments of the key chemical in the company’s Roundup herbicide, new federal court filings show. The revelations are contained in a series of filings made within the last few days in the … Monsanto, EPA Seek to Keep Talks Secret On Glyphosate Cancer Review
Newly released government email communications show a persistent effort by multiple officials within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slow a separate federal agency’s safety review of Monsanto’s top-selling herbicide. Notably, the records demonstrate that the EPA efforts came at the behest of Monsanto, and that EPA officials were helpful enough to keep the chemical … Collusion or Coincidence? Records Show EPA Efforts to Slow Herbicide Review Came in Coordination with Monsanto
Update: Newsweek’s bizarre response By Stacy Malkan “The campaign for organic food is a deceitful, expensive scam,” according to a Jan. 19 Newsweek article authored by Dr. Henry I. Miller of the Hoover Institution. If that name sounds familiar – Henry I. Miller – it may be because the New York Times recently revealed a … Monsanto’s fingerprints all over Newsweek’s hit on organic food
Academics Review, a nonprofit organization launched in 2012, claimed to be an independent group, but documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know revealed it was a front group, set up with the help of Monsanto executives and public relations operatives, to attack the organic industry and critics of GMOs — while appearing to be independent. … Academics Review: The making of a Monsanto front group to attack the organic industry
Amid global debate over the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup, numerous claims have been made to defend the product’s safety. In the wake of two recent landmark jury rulings that found Roundup to be a substantial factor in causing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, we examined some of these claims and fact-checked them for accuracy. … Glyphosate spin check: Tracking claims about the most widely used herbicide
Geoffrey Kabat, PhD, is a cancer epidemiologist and author of two books arguing that that health hazards of pesticides, electromagnetic fields, secondhand tobacco smoke and other environmental exposures are “greatly overblown.” He is often quoted in the press as an independent expert on cancer risk. Reporters who use Dr. Kabat as a source should be … Geoffrey Kabat’s ties to tobacco and chemical industry groups
Drew Kershen, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, is a close ally of the agrichemical industry. He argues for deregulation of genetically engineered plants and animals and against transparency. Kershen has played a key role in agrichemical industry-funded promotional efforts and front groups that lobby for industry interests. Kershen does not … Drew Kershen: agrichemical industry front group ringleader
Biology Fortified Inc., known as “Biofortified,” is a nonprofit organization that works closely with the agrichemical industry and its collaborators on public relations and lobbying campaigns to defend genetically engineered foods and pesticides, and attack industry critics. Board members and bloggers are key agrichemical industry allies Current and former board members and blog authors listed … Biofortified Aids Chemical Industry PR & Lobbying Efforts
The International Food Information Council (IFIC), a trade group funded by large food and pesticide companies, misleads the public about diet and health, according to documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know. IFIC is widely cited in the media as a source on issues related to food and health. IFIC and its nonprofit foundation spend … IFIC explainer: How Big Food defends ultra-processed foods, pesticides, artificial sweeteners
In a confidential public relations plan dated February 2015, Monsanto laid out is plans to discredit the World Health Organization’s cancer research unit, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). A month later, the international group of experts judged glyphosate — the key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer — to be probably carcinogenic … Monsanto relied on these ‘partners’ to attack top cancer scientists
Carey Gillam is an investigative journalist and award-winning author who spent 17 years on the food and agriculture beat for Reuters. Gillam is now research director of the public interest research group U.S. Right to Know. These remarks were delivered Oct. 11, 2017 before a joint public hearing on “The Monsanto Papers and Glyphosate” before … Decades of Deceit: Carey Gillam’s presentation to the European Parliament glyphosate hearing
AgBioChatter is a private email listserver used by the agrichemical industry and its allies to coordinate messaging and lobbying activities. List members include pro-industry academics, senior agrichemical industry staff and public relations operatives. This internal Monsanto document identifies “Academics (AgBioChatter)” as a Tier 2 “industry partner” in Monsanto’s public relations plan to discredit the World … AgBioChatter: Where Corporations, Academics Plotted Strategy on GMOs, Pesticides
By Carey Gillam Dewayne “Lee” Johnson has led what many might call an unremarkable life. The 46-year-old father and husband spent several years working as a school groundskeeper and spending free time teaching his two young sons to play football. But this week he takes center stage in a global debate over the safety of … Bay Area Man vs. Monsanto: First Trial Over Roundup Cancer Claims Set to Begin
This article was originally published in the Guardian. By Carey Gillam US government scientists have detected a weedkiller linked to cancer in an array of commonly consumed foods, emails obtained through a freedom of information request show. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been testing food samples for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient … Internal FDA Emails: Weedkiller Found in Granola and Crackers
As a president and board chair of AAAS from 2011-2013, Dr. Fedoroff advanced agrichemical industry policy objectives. She now works for a lobbying firm. Documents obtained by U.S. Right to Know show how public relations and lobbying efforts are coordinated behind the scenes among the agrichemical industry, front groups and academics who appear independent. Nina … Nina Fedoroff: Mobilizing the authority of American science to back Monsanto
The Center for Food Integrity (CFI), formerly the Grow America Project, is an industry-funded 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that conducts research, lobbying and public relations campaigns to “earn consumer trust” for processed food and agrichemical companies, including DowDuPont, Monsanto, Cargill, Costco, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Hershey, Kroger and trade associations for meat, dairy and soybeans. In the … Center for Food Integrity: PR for processed foods, pesticides and GMOs
By Carey Gillam Three years ago this month Monsanto executives realized they had a big problem on their hands. It was September 2014 and the company’s top-selling chemical, the weed killer called glyphosate that is the foundation for Monsanto’s branded Roundup products, had been selected as one among a handful of pesticides to undergo scrutiny … How Monsanto Manufactured ‘Outrage’ at IARC over Cancer Classification
Don’t mess with Monsanto Co. That is the message being delivered right now by the agrichemical industry as it makes a full-fledged assault on the team of international cancer scientists who dared to declare cancerous connections to the widely used herbicide called glyphosate, the chief ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup brand. Industry swagger is on full … IARC Scientists Defend Glyphosate Cancer Link; Surprised by Industry Assault
This week’s events will mark the first time that the science used to justify certain pesticides will be analyzed under oath for all to see This article was first published in The Guardian. By Carey Gillam On Monday, a federal court hearing in San Francisco will turn a public spotlight on to the science surrounding … Monsanto says its pesticides are safe. Now, a court wants to see the proof
As researchers we often look to documents to shed new light on issues important to food policy. Sometimes, they simply reflect what we already know. That’s the case with one new communication string that adds to evidence of a far-reaching strategy by food industry players to discredit and diminish the world’s leading cancer research agency. … Email of intrigue: “IARC is killing us!”
In June, a California groundskeeper will make history by taking company to trial on claims it suppressed harm of Roundup Thisarticlewasoriginallypublishedin TheGuardian. By Carey Gillam At the age of 46, DeWayne Johnson is not ready to die. But with cancer spread through most of his body, doctors say he probably has just months to live. … Landmark Lawsuit Claims Monsanto Hid Cancer Danger of Weedkiller for Decades
Related coverage: Landmark Lawsuit Claims Monsanto Hid Cancer Danger of Weedkiller for Decades, by Carey Gillam in The Guardian First Monsanto Roundup Cancer Trial Jury Selection, Carey Gillam’s blog By Carey Gillam Let the battle begin.Opening statements are slated for Monday in the landmark legal case that for the first time puts Monsanto and its … First Monsanto Roundup Cancer Trial Underway
Update: The ATSDR published their draft toxicological profile for glyphosate in April 2019. See coverage: ATSDR Report Confirms Glyphosate Cancer Risks, NRDC (4.11.2019); Some Links to Cancer Shown in Draft Review of Common Pesticide, Bloomberg (4.8.2019); Emails Show Monsanto Cozy with Feds, Courthouse News (4.15.2019). This article by Carey Gillam was originally published in Huffington … Read the emails, texts that show EPA efforts to slow ATSDR glyphosate review
A California jury decision blaming a Monsanto herbicide for a school groundskeeper’s cancer was deeply flawed and incompatible with the law, a Monsanto attorney told a panel of appellate judges on Tuesday. The company’s glyphosate-based herbicides – popularly known as Roundup – have the full backing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and “regulators around … Appeals court hears arguments over Monsanto’s first Roundup trial loss
Groups representing farm, medical and biotechnology interests have filed briefs with the California Court of Appeal, aligning with Monsanto in asking the court to overturn last summer’s jury verdict that found Monsanto’s glyphosate-herbicides cause cancer and determined that the company spent years covering up the risks. The groups are urging the appeals court to either … Tech, Medical and Farm Groups Ask Appeals Court to Overturn Verdict Against Monsanto
(UPDATED June 5 with comment from Scientific Reports) The authors of a newly published paper examining the impacts of exposure to the world’s most widely used herbicide declared some shocking news. The team from Washington State University found that descendants of rats exposed to the chemical glyphosate developed prostate, kidney and ovarian diseases, obesity and … A Matter of Fact – Professor Refuses to Correct Errors in New Scientific Paper Finding Problems with Glyphosate
UPDATE January 2019: Documents filed in court show that Monsanto provided Kate Kelland with the documents for her June 2017 story about Aaron Blair and gave her a slide deck of talking points the company wanted covered. For more details, see Carey Gillam’s Roundup Trial Tracker post. The following analysis was prepared by Carey Gillam … Reuters’ Kate Kelland promoted false narrative about IARC and Aaron Blair
We knew from previously released documents that Reuters reporter Kate Kelland was a key connection for Monsanto in its endeavor to undermine and discredit the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) scientists who classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen in 2015. Now we have additional evidence of the coziness of the … New Monsanto documents expose cozy connection to Reuters reporter
After more than 40 years of widespread use, new scientific tests show formulated weedkillers have higher rates of toxicity to human cells This article was originally published in The Guardian. By Carey Gillam US government researchers have uncovered evidence that some popular weedkilling products, like Monsanto’s widely-used Roundup, are potentially more toxic to human cells than their active ingredient is by … Weedkiller Products More Toxic Than Active Ingredient, Tests Show
By Carey Gillam My friend died from cancer today. His was a short, eight-month-long battle for survival, but it was a brutal one. Now his wife and young children are not planning for Christmas; instead they are planning his funeral. This man’s passing is a tragedy for his family and friends to be sure. But … My Friend Died from Cancer Today
(First published in Environmental Health News) Score another point for corporate power over protection of the public. U.S. Rep Lamar Smith, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, & Technology, has slated a full committee hearing for Feb. 6 with an agenda aimed squarely at attacking some of the world’s top … Corporate power, not public interest, at root of science committee hearing on IARC
