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       UN Committee Finds Weed Killer Glyphosate Unlikely to Cause Cancer

   by Reuters

   The weed-killing pesticide glyphosate, made by Monsanto and widely used
   in agriculture and by gardeners, probably does not cause cancer,
   according to a new safety review by United Nations health, agriculture
   and food experts.

   In a statement likely to intensify a row over its potential health
   impact, experts from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
   and World Health Organization (WHO) said glyphosate is "unlikely to
   pose a carcinogenic risk to humans" exposed to it through food. It is
   mostly used on crops.

   Having reviewed the scientific evidence, the joint WHO/FAO committee
   also said glyphosate is unlikely to be genotoxic in humans. In other
   words, it is not likely to have a destructive effect on cells' genetic
   material.

   The conclusion contradicts a finding by the WHO's Lyon-based
   International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which in March 2015
   said glyphosate is "probably" able to cause cancer in humans and
   classified it as a so-called Group 2A carcinogen.

   Seven months after the IARC review, the European Food Safety Authority
   (EFSA), an independent agency funded by the European Union, published a
   different assessment, saying glyphosate is "unlikely to pose a
   carcinogenic hazard to humans."

   The differing findings thrust glyphosate into the center of a row
   involving EU and U.S. politicians and regulators, the IARC experts,
   environmental and agricultural specialists and the WHO.

   Diazinon and malathion, two other pesticides reviewed by the WHO/FAO
   committee, which met last week and issued its conclusions in a
   statement on Monday, were also found to be unlikely to be carcinogenic.




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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-committee-finds-week-killier-unlik
   ely-to-cause-cancer/3332386.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-committee-finds-week-killier-unlikely-to-cause-cancer/3332386.html