An Update on Glyphosate

An Update on Glyphosate

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, a weed killer from Monsanto (now owned by Bayer), has faced a growing ban across the globe and intense scrutiny in courts across the country.

Legislation to watch

This past March, Monsanto was ordered to pay $80 million in damages to Edwin Hardeman when a sixperson jury deemed Roundup to be a “substantial factor” in his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This is the second case ruling against Monsanto for its cancercausing risk; Dewayne Johnson was the first victim to win a $289 million judgement (later reduced to $78 million). There are currently 11,000+ lawsuits against Monsanto claiming that exposure to Roundup has caused them or their loved ones to develop non- Hodgkin lymphoma. Most recently in April, a U.S. District Judge has ordered a mediation to seek a settlement between Bayer and those representing the many victims.

Latest locations to ban the use of Glyphosate

The use of glyphosate has been reevaluated, restricted, or banned in places across the globe since the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) labeled glyphosate as a “possible human carcinogen” in 2015.

In February of 2019, Miami issued a city-wide ban on glyphosate-based herbicides. The following month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ordered a moratorium on county property while the safety continues to be evaluated. Bans and restrictions also exist in places like Boulder, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Portland, Maine; and Austin, Texas, and the list continues to grow.