A New Haven-based coalition of doctors and scientists highlighted the dangers of the controversial weed-killer Roundup in a statement released Tuesday.
Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), which includes many Yale-affiliated physicians and public-health experts, called on public officials to better protect the public by restricting Roundup use. Glyphosate, Roundup’s main ingredient, is used in many herbicides.
EHHI member John Wargo, a professor of environmental health and politics at Yale, said:
“Roundup and glyphosate products are one of the most commonly applied lawn and garden herbicides, and they threaten to contaminate both private and public drinking water supplies. Consumers are largely unaware of the chemical’s persistence, its frequency of application, its common presence in the environment and human tissues and its toxic potential.”
The group asked that policymakers improve labeling and recategorize Roundup and other products that contain glyphosate as “Restricted Use Pesticides,” which can be applied only by certified professionals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared glyphosate to be a probable carcinogen. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has evaluated the safety of glyphosate several times, most recently in 2020, and said it found no risks to human health from current uses of glyphosate and that the chemical does not cause cancer.
Bayer, the current maker of Roundup, announced last month it planned to replace all glyphosate-based products in the U.S. residential market for lawn and garden use with non-glyphosate alternatives starting in 2023. Farmers will be able to continue to use the chemical.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
