Monsanto says WHO study of glyphosate is flawed

Monsanto Co. said yesterday it is livid about last week’s assessment on glyphosate by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

“This conclusion is inconsistent with the decades of ongoing comprehensive safety reviews by the leading regulatory authorities around the world that have concluded that all labeled uses of glyphosate are safe for human health,” Monsanto’s chief technology officer Robb Fraley said. “This result was reached by selective ‘cherry picking’ of data and is a clear example of agenda-driven bias.”

An IARC report published Friday said the herbicide is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

Fraley refuted IARC’s conclusions, emphasizing that the safety record of glyphosate has been proved over decades of use and during numerous studies. He said IARC’s effort is not a study and failed to consider the wealth of information about the safety of glyphosate that already exists, including a four-year study of the herbicide that was completed by the German government in January. That study concluded that “glyphosate was unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk in humans.”

“Given the importance of the safety of glyphosate to consumers and growers alike, we will continue to urgently pursue our request that the WHO provide transparency on the IARC process and account for the studies both used and disregarded in drawing its conclusion,” Fraley said.