> "An FAQ page on WHO’s website clarifies why the IARC’s and the pesticide residue experts’ conclusions aren’t contradictory.
> "The 2015 IARC conclusion aimed to identify any potential cancer hazard glyphosate may pose to humans at some level of exposure, WHO explains. But in 2016, the pesticide residue experts at WHO and the U.N. assessed the actual cancer risk the herbicide poses to consumers at a specific level of exposure, namely the level commonly found in foods."
Further:
> "In fact, a yet-to-be-published study that found no link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, may have changed IARC’s 2015 analysis of the herbicide had it been published."
> "The IARC review notes that there is limited evidence for a link to cancer in humans. Although several studies have shown that people who work with the herbicide seem to be at increased risk of a cancer type called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the report notes that a separate huge US study, the Agricultural Health Study, found no link to non-Hodgkin lymphomas. That study followed thousands of farmers and looked at whether they had increased risk of cancer.
> "But other evidence, including from animal studies, led the IARC to its ‘probably carcinogenic’ classification. Glyphosate has been linked to tumours in mice and rats — and there is also what the IARC classifies as ‘mechanistic evidence’, such as DNA damage to human cells from exposure to glyphosate."
There's a good amount of research showing no cancer links in practice at realistic levels, though, for example. Here are a couple of studies (one of which is mentioned above):
Cancer Incidence among Glyphosate-Exposed Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253709/ - "Glyphosate exposure was not associated with cancer incidence overall or with most of the cancer subtypes we studied."
Epidemiologic studies of glyphosate and cancer: A review - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027323001... - "Seven cohort studies and fourteen case-control studies examined the association between glyphosate and one or more cancer outcomes. Our review found no consistent pattern of positive associations indicating a causal relationship between total cancer (in adults or children) or any site-specific cancer and exposure to glyphosate."
In short, this is not an issue that justifies running around with one's hair on fire, unless that happens to be your hobby, which it does seem to be for some people.
That's a bit of an oversimplification.
This article helps clarify the situation: https://www.factcheck.org/2017/08/glyphosate-cause-cancer/
An important point is the following:
> "An FAQ page on WHO’s website clarifies why the IARC’s and the pesticide residue experts’ conclusions aren’t contradictory.
> "The 2015 IARC conclusion aimed to identify any potential cancer hazard glyphosate may pose to humans at some level of exposure, WHO explains. But in 2016, the pesticide residue experts at WHO and the U.N. assessed the actual cancer risk the herbicide poses to consumers at a specific level of exposure, namely the level commonly found in foods."
Further:
> "In fact, a yet-to-be-published study that found no link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, may have changed IARC’s 2015 analysis of the herbicide had it been published."
It's also worth noting that the IARC's finding is somewhat speculative, as described in https://www.nature.com/news/widely-used-herbicide-linked-to-... :
> "The IARC review notes that there is limited evidence for a link to cancer in humans. Although several studies have shown that people who work with the herbicide seem to be at increased risk of a cancer type called non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the report notes that a separate huge US study, the Agricultural Health Study, found no link to non-Hodgkin lymphomas. That study followed thousands of farmers and looked at whether they had increased risk of cancer.
> "But other evidence, including from animal studies, led the IARC to its ‘probably carcinogenic’ classification. Glyphosate has been linked to tumours in mice and rats — and there is also what the IARC classifies as ‘mechanistic evidence’, such as DNA damage to human cells from exposure to glyphosate."
There's a good amount of research showing no cancer links in practice at realistic levels, though, for example. Here are a couple of studies (one of which is mentioned above):
Cancer Incidence among Glyphosate-Exposed Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1253709/ - "Glyphosate exposure was not associated with cancer incidence overall or with most of the cancer subtypes we studied."
Epidemiologic studies of glyphosate and cancer: A review - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027323001... - "Seven cohort studies and fourteen case-control studies examined the association between glyphosate and one or more cancer outcomes. Our review found no consistent pattern of positive associations indicating a causal relationship between total cancer (in adults or children) or any site-specific cancer and exposure to glyphosate."
In short, this is not an issue that justifies running around with one's hair on fire, unless that happens to be your hobby, which it does seem to be for some people.