The Food Issue
2015
Grains
West
46
Feature
Roundup
rebuff
Widely used herbicide comes under fire
By Jeff Davis
ut on his acreage in rural Saskatchewan,
33-year-old Todd Roberts happily went about his
annual chores of clearing away weeds and turning
over the garden for planting. “Fortunately, I’ve got the good
stuff,” he said, referring proudly to a gallon jug of agricultural-
strength glyphosate, better known by its ubiquitous trade
name, Roundup.
Growing up on an expansive wheat farm, Roberts learned
there is simply no equal to Roundup when it comes to tamping
down stubborn weeds, whether in the kitchen garden or the
seeded section. “I can hardly imagine farming without the
stuff,” he said. “It’s just the best.”
And while glyphosate’s utility is not up for debate, its long-
term health repercussions are. In March, the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) stunned the agricultural world by labelling
glyphosate a “probable carcinogen.”
But with glyphosate being far and away the most used
herbicide in global agriculture, the IARC’s reclassification of
the crop chemical could have far-reaching effects on farming
around the world. And while the highly relied-upon herbicide
will not be blocked from use in Canada, there is growing
agitation amongst cancer-prevention groups that its use be
regulated for the protection of humans and the ecosystem.
Glyphosate was discovered to be an herbicide by
Monsanto chemist John E. Franz in 1970, and has been a
fixture of Canadian agricultural life ever since.
“Glyphosate is one of the most widely used and
comprehensively evaluated herbicides on the planet,” said
Trish Jordan, a spokeswoman for Monsanto Canada. “It’s used
in many situations, agriculture being one of them. It’s used in
conservation, parks and forestry. It’s a very common product
and has a very well-documented history of safe use.”
O
Jordan also pointed to the WHO giving the same
classifications to all kinds of everyday items in the same
category, from coffee and cellphones to working the night
shift and aloe vera cream.
“The ruling is quite concerning because it's very misleading
to the public,” she said.
Jordan also pointed to Health Canada’s stance on
glyphosate as evidence that the herbicide remains safe to use.
Andre Gagnon, a media relations officer with Health
Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, said the fear
of glyphosate is overblown since Canadians are not exposed
to the dangerous concentrations seen in lab tests. “The levels
of human exposure, which determine the actual risk, were not
taken into account,” he said.
Recently, Health Canada published a proposed
re-evaluation of glyphosate’s use for public consultation,
Gagnon said. The document proposed continued registration
of products containing glyphosate for sale and use in Canada
with implementation of further risk-reduction measures.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency,
under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act and
Regulations, is proposing continued registration of products
containing glyphosate for sale and use in Canada, according
to Gagnon.
Canada’s stance, Gagnon said, is in line with other
countries. “Currently, no pesticide regulatory authority in
the world considers glyphosate to be a carcinogenic risk to
humans,” he said.
According to a March 2015 report from the IARC, the
agricultural use of glyphosate has increased sharply since the
development of crops that have been genetically modified to
make them resistant to the herbicide. After decades of prolific
use, the IARC said, glyphosate has been detected in our water
