MEP Pavel Poc to host scientific conference in the European Parliament on the health risks of glyphosate herbicides

It’s great that the MEP Pavel Poc is hosting a scientific conference in the European Parliament on the health risks of glyphosate herbicides – see the agenda below.

Among the speakers will be Helmut Burtscher, of the NGO GLOBAL2000, who will talk about the new report that shows glyphosate producers are “buying science” to keep the chemical on the market.

However, there is one important omission. The list of speakers doesn't yet include one of the authors of an important new research study.

This study is the first ever to establish a causative link between a glyphosate herbicide formulation at real-world exposure levels and a serious disease — fatty liver disease.

Fatty liver disease is a risk factor for liver cancer, so there is a connection with the cancer issue that has made headlines since IARC classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen.

Here’s an article explaining the significance of the study.

UPDATE 4 MAY 2017: In a late addition to the agenda, Dr Michael Antoniou will be speaking at this event about the above-mentioned study showing that Roundup causes fatty liver disease at ultra-low, realistic doses. The updated agenda and registration information are here. 
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Glyphosate: Harmless tool or sneaky poison?

EuCheMS, April 2017
http://www.euchems.eu/policy-and-communication/policy-workshops/glyphosate-harmless-tool-sneaky-poison/

Hosted by: RNDr. Pavel Poc, MEP Vice-Chair of the EP Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Co-organised with: European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN)

Wednesday, May 10, 2017 14:30-18:00 Room ASP 5E2 European Parliament, Brussels

Glyphosate is the active substance in the most frequently used herbicide both worldwide and in the EU. Many institutions had provided its expertise on glyphosate´s impact on health including the divergent findings of the European Food Safety Authority on one side and of the International Agency for Research on Cancer on the other.

On June 29, 2016 the European Commission decided to amend the Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the extension of the approval period of the active substance glyphosate. This extended the approval period of the chemical until six months from the date of receipt of the European Chemicals Agency’s classification of glyphosate or until 31 December 2017, whichever is the earlier.

The ECHA´s Risk Assessment Committee concluded now that the available scientific evidence did not meet the criteria to classify glyphosate as a carcinogen, as a mutagen or as toxic for reproduction.

MEP Pavel Poc, Vice-Chair of the ENVI Committee of the European Parliament, the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) and the European Chemistry Thematic Network Association (ECTN) have invited ECHA representatives and leading experts in the field to participate in a scientific evidence based debate on glyphosate’s possible negative effect on human health, specifically in relevance to the biological molecular processes, metabolism, genotoxicity, endocrine disruptors, antimicrobial resistance, and other serious health related concerns.

DRAFT AGENDA 13:45 - 14:30 Registration (EP Infopoint – Place du Luxembourg Entrance)
14:30 - 14:40 Pavel Poc, European Parliament Opening words
14:40 - 14:50 David Cole-Hamilton, EuCheMS President A Welcome from the Chemistry Community
14:50 - 15:05 Pavel Drašar, UCT Prague, ECTN President and EuCheMS Executive Board Member Current Controversy in the Case of Glyphosate
15:05 - 15:20 European Chemical Agency Committee for Risk Assessment’s Assessment of Glyphosate
15:20 - 15:35 Silvia Lacorte, IDAEA-CSIC Title of the Presentation TBA
15:35 - 15:50 John Coggins, University of Glasgow Glyphosate – An Enzymologist’s Perspective
15:50 - 16:05 Kathryn Z. Guyton, International Agency for Research on Cancer The Carcinogenicity of Glyphosate
16:05 - 16:10 Coffee Break
16:10 - 16:25 Jack Heinemann, University of Canterbury (New Zealand) - TBC Glyphosate and Antimicrobial Resistance (working title)
16:25 - 16:40 Tore Midtvedt, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology Glyphosate and Eco-Toxicological Consequences
16:40 - 16:55 Monika Krueger, Leipzig University - TBC Title of the Presentation TBA
16:55 - 17:10 Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, GLOBAL 2000 / Friends of the Earth Austria Glyphosate and Cancer: Buying Science
17:10 - 17:25 Hartmut Frank, University Bayreuth, Editor "Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry", Chair and Founder of the EuCheMS Working Party on Ethics in Chemistry Do Chemists/Scientists Need to Understand Ethics?
17:25 - 17:55 Discussion
17:55 - 18:00 Pavel Poc, European Parliament
Conclusion