GM Watch
  • Main Menu
    • Home
    • News
      • Newsletter subscription
      • News Reviews
      • News Languages
        • Notícias em Português
        • Nieuws in het Nederlands
        • Nachrichten in Deutsch
      • Archive
    • Articles
      • GM Myth Makers
      • GM Reports
      • GM Quotes
      • GM Myths
      • Non-GM successes
      • GM Firms
        • Monsanto: a history
        • Monsanto: resources
        • Bayer: a history
        • Bayer: resources
    • Videos
      • Latest Videos
      • Must see videos
      • Agriculture videos
      • Labeling videos
      • Animals videos
      • Corporations videos
      • Corporate takeover videos
      • Contamination videos
      • Latin America videos
      • India videos
      • Asia videos
      • Food safety videos
      • Songs videos
      • Protests videos
      • Biofuel myths videos
      • Index of GM crops and foods
      • Index of speakers
      • Health Effects
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donations
News and comment on genetically modified foods and their associated pesticides    
  • News
    • Newsletter subscription
    • News Reviews
    • News Languages
      • Notícias em Português
      • Nieuws in het Nederlands
      • Nachrichten in Deutsch
    • Archive
  • Articles
    • GM Myth Makers
    • GM Reports
    • GM Quotes
    • GM Myths
    • Non-GM successes
    • GM Firms
      • Monsanto: a history
      • Monsanto: resources
      • Bayer: a history
      • Bayer: resources
  • Donations
  • Videos
    • Index of speakers
    • Glyphosate Videos
    • Latest Videos
    • Must see videos
    • Health Effects
    • Agriculture videos
    • Labeling videos
    • Animals videos
    • Corporations videos
    • Corporate takeover videos
    • Contamination videos
    • Latin America videos
    • India videos
    • Asia videos
    • Food safety videos
    • Songs videos
    • Protests videos
    • Biofuel myths videos
    • Index of GM crops and foods
  • Contact
  • About
SUBSCRIBE TO REVIEWS

GMWatch Facebook cornfield banner

INTRODUCTION TO GM

GMO Myths and Facts front page.jpg

SCIENCE SUPPORTS REGULATION OF GENE EDITING

Plant tissue cultures

GENE EDITING: UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES AND RISKS

Damaged DNA on fire

GENE EDITING MYTHS AND REALITY

A guide through the smokescreen

Gene Editing Myths and Reality

ON-TARGET EFFECTS OF GENE EDITING

Damaged DNA

News Menu

  • Latest News
  • News Reviews
  • Archive
  • Languages

News Archive

  • 2022 articles
  • 2021 articles
  • 2020 articles
  • 2019 articles
  • 2018 articles
  • 2017 articles
  • 2016 articles
  • 2015 articles
  • 2014 articles
  • 2013 articles
  • 2012 articles
  • 2011 articles
  • 2010 articles
  • 2009 articles
  • 2008 articles
  • 2007 articles
  • 2006 articles
  • 2005 articles
  • 2004 articles
  • 2003 articles
  • 2002 articles
  • 2001 articles
  • 2000 articles

Please support GMWatch

Donations

You can donate via Paypal or credit/debit card.

Some of you have opted to give a regular donation. This is greatly appreciated as it helps place us on a more stable financial basis. Thank you for your support!

EFSA advises higher safety limits on glyphosate weedkiller

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Published: 13 November 2015
Twitter

Environmental groups call for ban

EFSA has advised that the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for glyphosate be increased from 0.3 mg/kg bodyweight/day to 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight/day.

In this move, EFSA has simply followed Germany’s recommendation for an increased tolerance for glyphosate. Germany is the “rapporteur” member state for glyphosate, responsible for liaising between industry and the EU authorities on the chemical’s re-authorisation.
——

EU scientists advise higher safety limits on glyphosate weedkiller

Euractiv.com, 12 Nov 2015
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/science-policymaking/eu-scientists-advise-tighter-safety-limits-glyphosate-weedkiller

Glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which proposed higher limits on Thursday (12 November) on the amount of residue of the weedkiller deemed safe for humans to consume.

The EFSA advises EU policymakers and its conclusion could pave the way for the 28-member European Union to renew approval for glyphosate, which was brought into use by Monsanto in the 1970s and is used in its top selling product Roundup as well as in many other herbicides around the world.

Environmental groups have been calling for a ban after the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, said in March that glyphosate was "probably carcinogenic to humans".

A campaign group said that 1.4 million people had signed a petition calling on the European Union to suspend glyphosate approval pending further assessment.

The EFSA said it had carried out a thorough analysis and taken account of the IARC's findings.

"This has been an exhaustive process — a full assessment that has taken into account a wealth of new studies and data," said Jose Tarazona, head of the pesticides unit at the EFSA, based in Parma, Italy.

"Regarding carcinogenicity, it is unlikely that this substance is carcinogenic."

Higher safety limits

The EFSA is proposing a limit on the maximum safe daily dose over a period of time, of 0.5 milligrams per kilogram (kg) of body weight. It is also proposing a new acute limit, of the same level, for a single intake of glyphosate over a short period, for instance in one meal.

The previous EU evaluation had set an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0.3 milligrams per kg of body weight per day.

The scientists say an 80-kg (180-lb) person could eat food containing a residue of 40 milligrams of glyphosate per day for the rest of their life. Monsanto said that was the equivalent of eating 400 kg (900 lbs) of fruit or vegetables a day.

EFSA scientists, who worked with experts from EU member states, said their study differed from the IARC's in that it considered only glyphosate, whereas the IARC had assessed groups of related chemicals. They said the toxic effects could be related to reactions with other constituents.

One of the 28 EU nations, Sweden, voiced reservations, saying it "considered that the classification criteria for limited evidence of cancer in humans were fulfilled," the EFSA said.

The EU must decide over the coming months whether to renew existing approval for glyphosate use.

But Greenpeace called the EFSA's report "a whitewash".

"EFSA has defied the world's most authoritative cancer agency," Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said in a statement.

Monsanto and other users of glyphosate, which is widely used by farmers, welcomed the report.

"It confirms the previous evaluations of glyphosate by regulatory authorities around the world, which have consistently concluded that the application of glyphosate poses no unacceptable risk to human health, animals or the environment," Richard Garnett, chair of the Glyphosate Task Force, said in a statement.

The GTF brings together representatives of Monsanto and other companies.

Commission spokesman Enrico Brivio said the Commission took note of the report and that EU regulators now had until June next year to take a decision.

Menu

Home

Subscriptions

News Archive

News Reviews

Videos

Articles

GM Myth Makers

GM Reports

GM Myths

GM Quotes

Non-GM Successes

Contacts

Contact Us

About

Facebook

Twitter

Donations

Content 1999 - 2022 GMWatch.
Web Development By SCS Web Design