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The science behind farm herbicides and cancer Harvest Public Media breaks down the latest research

Nebraska farmer Nathan Dorn says he’s comfortable using chemical herbicides approved by the EPA. (Photo: Matt Brooks/NET News)
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3 minute read

Farmers count on chemical herbicides to keep their fields weed-free. But an international panel of scientists who studied two of the most heavily used farm chemicals to determine whether they could cause cancer, said exposure to weed-killing chemicals could come at a cost. In the last few months, scientists brought together by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, considered glyphosate and 2,4-D.

IARC is part of the World Health Organization. The agency assembles scientific panels to evaluate data on different chemicals and decide if there is evidence they could cause cancer. It has reviewed nearly 1,000 chemicals over the last 50 years and sorted them into categories: causes cancer, probably causes cancer, possibly causes cancer, not classifiable, or non-carcinogenic.

The panel looked at glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and other commercial herbicides, and determined it probably could cause cancer. For 2,4-D, which has been on the market since the 1940s, the group said it was possible the chemical could cause cancer.

Environmental groups want regulators in the U.S. to take notice of IARC’s findings. IARC doesn’t regulate herbicides itself, but the agency’s decisions do carry weight. Brazil is taking another look at glyphosate. Glyphosate was already under review by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“IARC is the decision-making body to which every regulator around the world looks to,” said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.

Farmers fighting herbicide resistant weeds will likely look to spray more chemicals not less. That’s why Faber says the EPA needs to take IARC’s conclusions into account when deciding how much is safe, both for farmers and their neighbors.

“There are millions of rural residents who use playgrounds and go to school or go to church within the drift zones of corn and soybean fields,” Faber said.

Hazard versus risk

The EPA, however, doesn’t look at herbicides the same way as IARC. Take the case of 2,4-D. Anneclaire De Roos, an epidemiologist at Drexler University and a member of the 2,4-D group at IARC, says the scientists’ task was only to ask whether a chemical is a potential hazard.

“Is there enough evidence to say that this agent or chemical causes cancer, and if so what types of cancer is there sufficient evidence for?” De Roos said the group asks.

At the end of that hazard assessment, scientists concluded 2,4-D is a possible carcinogen. But so are coffee and Aloe vera, according to IARC.

The EPA’s job is to go beyond that designation and to assess risk. That is — the EPA wants to determine whether it is likely to cause cancer or if there is a safe way to use it in the real world.

“They also try to characterize what is the dose response,” De Roos said. “How much exposure do you need to develop cancer?”

Julie Goodman, a toxicologist and consultant who works with the chemical-manufacturer supported Industry Task Force on 2,4-D, says 90 government agencies around the world have conducted risk assessments on 2,4-D and found it’s safe to use.

“Farmers or anyone else using or potentially exposed to 2,4-D should really rely on the results of the risk assessments,” Goodman said. “And these risk assessments demonstrate that 2,4-D does not increase cancer risk.”

The herbicide industry is also pushing back against IARC’s classification of glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. Monsanto says it will convene its own panel of scientists to review the science on the chemical.

Farmers and weeds

Corn and soybean farmers in the U.S. apply more than 300 million pounds of herbicides each year. Those chemicals are an important part of how Nathan Dorn does business.

Dorn farms with his family in southeast Nebraska. On a warm summer morning he walks down a strip of grass between a field of corn and a field of soybeans. He bends down to pull up a green, leafy stalk of pigweed by its roots. He snaps the stalk like celery.

“What do you see there,” Dorn asked squeezing water out of the weed. “That’s moisture this plant is using to grow that’s not in there for my corn, not in there for my soybeans.”

That’s why, before he plants his crop, Dorn sprays the field with an herbicide cocktail. Each acre is sprayed twice, some three times, to wipe out weeds.

“You want to make sure you have crops in your fields and not weeds because weeds don’t end up in the combine bin,” Dorn said. “Weeds don’t pay the bills.”

In the end, the real risk from any chemical is tied to the dose and that’s up to the EPA. Dorn is comfortable following EPA guidelines, and right now that means he’ll keep using chemicals like glyphosate and 2,4-D as long as they keep killing weeds.

“It’s effective and you know what you’re going to get,” Dorn said. “Right or wrong, it works.”

Dorn and others will continue to use chemical tools, at least until the EPA releases its review of glyphosate, which is expected to come out this summer.

To see more stories from Harvest Public Media, visit www.harvestpublicmedia.org. 

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