Scientific evidence pointing to the dangers posed by Monsanto’s widely used Roundup herbicide has been mounting for years, but a new report just out from the World Health Organization (WHO) may be the most damning yet.

The report states that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, “probably” causes cancer.¹

Until now, the EPA and FDA have resisted classifying Roundup as a carcinogen and banning its use. But after this report, the EPA now states that it will “consider” these new findings. We need to make sure that this new information actually spurs them to action.

Tell the EPA and FDA: Immediately suspend Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Click here to sign the petition.

Invented by Monsanto in 1974, Roundup is the most widely used weed killer in the United States – nearly 200 million pounds are used on food every year. It’s commonly used on crops like wheat and soy, and residues of it are routinely found in food and water. While Monsanto officials and government regulators have routinely insisted that it does not accumulate in human tissues, independent studies have found significant concentrations of its active ingredient glyphosate in human urine and breast milk.²

This latest study by the cancer research arm of the WHO, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet Oncology, placed Roundup’s active ingredient in its second highest category of cancer risk, classifying it as a “probable carcinogen.” Among other findings, the authors of the study stated that there is evidence that glyphosate can cause non-Hodgkins lymphoma in humans and other cancers in rats and mice.

The EPA has already acknowledged that long-term exposure to high levels of glyphosate can cause kidney and reproductive damage.³ And these new findings come after a report by a senior MIT researcher last year that connected glyphosate to a number of human diseases due to its antibiotic effect in humans, as well as endocrine disruption, impaired liver detoxification, and lowered nutrient absorption.⁴

Those findings led the researcher to state: “I’m certain at this point that glyphosate is the most important factor in an alarming number of epidemic diseases.”

It’s time for the EPA and FDA to take seriously their responsibility to protect public health and keep Monsanto’s toxic herbicide out of our bodies and off of our plates.

Tell the EPA and FDA: Immediately suspend Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. Click here to sign the petition.

Thank you for your activism.

Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

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1. “Carcinogenicity of tetrachlorvinphos, parathion, malathion, diazinon, and glyphosate,” The Lancet Oncology, March 20, 2015
2. “Dangerous Pesticides Showing Up More and More In Our Urine and Breast Milk,” Alternet, June 4, 2014
3. “EPA: Technical Factsheet on Glyphosate“
4. “Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases II: Celiac sprue and gluten intolerance,” Interdisciplinary Toxicology, November 2013.