Measure is motivated by World Health Organisation verdict that glyphosate is a “probable carcinogen”; in the US, consumer groups and food companies are testing substances from breakfast cereal to breast milk for glyphosate
EXCERPT (item 1): [Health agency] Anvisa highlights that "so far, the classification by the International Association for Cancer Research of the agrochemicals was just mentioned by The Lancet magazine article, so it is necessary to await for the publication of the monograph of each active ingredient, in which the details of evaluation studies and results used as basis for the classification adopted can evaluated and used at the reevaluation of these agrochemicals".
1. ANVISA to reassess glyphosate risk in Brazil
2. Fears over Roundup herbicide residues prompt private testing
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1. ANVISA to reassess glyphosate risk in Brazil
AgroNews, 9 April 2015
http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---14579.htm
Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) announced officially that it will reassess the glyphosate risk in the country. The measure was motivated by an article published at "The Lancet" magazine in March of this year by the International Association for Cancer Research. The article classified the carcinogenicity of five agrochemicals: tetrachlorvinphos, parathion, malathion, diazinon, and glyphosate.
Facing this recent glyphosate classification, Anvisa will give immediate continuity to the analysis of this active ingredient, following the determination of the 2002 Decree No 4074 that mandates ”to promote the reassessments of agrochemicals registration as well as its components and similar items when evidences of risks appear and force to discourage the use of registered products and when the country is alerted in this sense by international organizations", the agency says in an official statement.
However, Anvisa highlights that "so far, the classification by the International Association for Cancer Research of the agrochemicals was just mentioned by The Lancet magazine article, so it is necessary to await for the publication of the monograph of each active ingredient, in which the details of evaluation studies and results used as basis for the classification adopted can evaluated and used at the reevaluation of these agrochemicals".
Anvisa says that its toxicological evaluation uses the following administrative procedures: "initiative of re-evaluation of active ingredients through the publication of a Collegiate Board Resolution, introduction of toxicological studies on agrochemicals under evaluation, analysis of the data and published scientific studies, partnership with technical and scientifically recognized institution in toxicology area without conflict of interest, technical note published for public consultation, consolidation of public consultation contributions, discussion of the findings and suggestions of referrals by the revaluation committee composed of Anvisa workers with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply and the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, and development of conclusive technical note on toxicological aspects evaluated and publication of the final revaluation decision by the CBR".
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2. Fears over Roundup herbicide residues prompt private testing
By Carey Gillam
Reuters, 10 April 2015
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/09/us-food-agriculture-glyphosate-idINKBN0N029H20150409
U.S. consumer groups, scientists, and food companies are testing substances ranging from breakfast cereal to breast milk for residues of the world's most widely used herbicide on rising concerns over its possible links to disease.
The focus is on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Testing has increased in the last two years, but scientists say requests spiked after a World Health Organization research unit said last month it was classifying glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans".
"The requests keep coming in," said Ben Winkler, laboratory manager at Microbe Inotech Laboratories in St. Louis. The commercial lab has received three to four requests a week to test foods and other substances for glyphosate residues. In prior years, it received only three to four requests annually, according to its records.
"Some people want to stay out in front of this. Nobody knows what it means yet, but a lot of people are testing," said Winkler.
Microbe has handled recent requests for glyphosate residue testing from small food companies, an advocacy group testing baby formula and a group of doctors who want to test patients' urine for glyphosate residues, said Winkler. The firms and doctors do not want their identities published.
Abraxis LLC, a Warminster, Pennsylvania-based diagnostics company, has also seen a "measurable increase" in glyphosate testing, said Abraxis partner Dave Deardorff.
Monsanto Co, the maker of Roundup, on April 1 posted a blog seeking to reassure consumers and others about glyphosate residues.
"According to physicians and other food safety experts, the mere presence of a chemical itself is not a human health hazard. It is the amount, or dose, that matters," Monsanto senior toxicologist Kimberly Hodge-Bell said in the blog. Trace amounts are not unsafe, she stated.
Company spokeswoman Charla Lord said last week that further questions could be directed to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
There are numerous studies that have determined glyphosate to be safe, but several others have linked it to human health ailments. Critics say they fear that glyphosate is so pervasive in the environment that extended exposure even to trace amounts can be harmful.
Tests by Abraxis found glyphosate residues in 41 of 69 honey samples and in 10 of 28 soy sauces; Microbe tests detected glyphosate in three of 18 breast milk samples and in six of 40 infant formula samples.
North Dakota State University agronomist Joel Ransom reported to the U.S. Wheat Quality Council in February that tests he ordered showed traces of glyphosate in several U.S. and Canadian flour samples.
(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by Dan Grebler)