Roundup Probably Causes Cancer. Should that Change the Discussion on GM Crops?

The discussion around the safety of GM foods is too often centered on one part of the process: eating them. However, when evaluating whether GM foods are safe for us and for the environment, we must also consider the broader effects.

Lindsey Hallock

Policy Analyst

In a landmark study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the world’s top oncologists announced that the chemical glyphosate is a “probable carcinogen”—a category of certainty second only to “known carcinogens”—and may be linked to non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other forms of cancer.

Glyphosate, used in over 750 commercial products, is the key ingredient in herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup and Dow’s Enlist Duo. In the past two decades, as genetically modified (GM) crops have expanded, the use of herbicide in agriculture has skyrocketed. From 1996 to 2011, herbicide use increased by 527 million pounds in the United States alone.

(above maps: USGS)

This is not entirely a coincidence – many GM crops are actually designed to survive higher levels of herbicide.

In 1974, in an attempt to boost American agricultural production, Monsanto introduced Roundup—an herbicide intended to kill troublesome weeds and boost agricultural yields. Following the laws of evolution, however, as farmers used more and more glyphosate, weeds grew tolerant and became “superweeds”—weeds that have become resistant to products like Roundup and Enlist Duo, and can now be found in more than 20 states.  

Herbicide-tolerant (Ht) crops were designed, in part, to help combat this problem. Genetically modified to resist broad-spectrum herbicides that kill any and all plants in their way, Ht crops encourage farmers to use more and more Roundup because the crops themselves can survive it, even if “superweeds” cannot. Monsanto assures us that this is OK because they claim glyphosate binds to the soil, making it less likely to enter our groundwater, air or the food chain.

Unfortunately, evidence shows that glyphosate doesn’t stay on the farm. Not only has it been found in urine of farmworkers and their families, but glyphosate has also been found in the air and the rain, in surface waters and soil across the United States, and in GM food itself. In a 2014 study, scientists found “extreme levels” of Roundup residue in GM soybean samples that were ready for market.

The discussion around the safety of GM foods is too often centered on one part of the process: eating them. However, when evaluating whether GM foods are safe for us and for the environment, we must also consider the broader effects.

The food journalist Mark Bittman wrote in a recent op-ed that “we don’t need better, smarter chemicals along with crops that can tolerate them; we need fewer chemicals.” An agricultural system increasingly dependent on chemicals that pollute our water, air and land and threaten public health is not our only option. As consumers and citizens, we can demand nutritious and sustainable foods and agricultural policies that contribute to a healthy environment and a healthy population.

Authors

Lindsey Hallock

Policy Analyst