The long-awaited and most comprehensive independent animal study ever conducted on glyphosate has now been published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health. The results are deeply concerning. [1] Led by the independent Ramazzini Institute, the study tested both glyphosate and the representative formulation used in the EU. It shows that long-term exposure to glyphosate and its formulations, even at very low levels equivalent to the EU’s Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), causes early-onset leukemia in rats. Worryingly, it also reveals a significant increase in multiple other types of tumours (e.g. skin, liver, thyroid, nervous system, ovary, mammary gland, adrenal glands, kidney, urinary bladder, bone, endocrine pancreas, uterus and spleen), providing solid evidence of glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential.

Alarmed by these results, the authors already shared the leukemia data with EU authorities in 2023, ahead of glyphosate’s reapproval. [2] Under EU pesticide law, active substances and products that may cause cancer must not be approved. Yet despite the study’s scientific rigour and relevance, the European Commission and Member States ignored this evidence and renewed glyphosate’s approval for another decade. The authors now urge regulatory authorities to consider these findings. [3]