The European Food Safety Authority has not identified a level of risk associated with glyphosate which, in its view, would justify banning it in the European Union beyond its current authorization period (AFP/Archives/JEAN- FRANCOIS MONIER)
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has not identified a level of risk from glyphosate that it believes would justify banning it in the European Union beyond its current authorization period, in a study handed over to the European Commission on Thursday, which aroused the ire of many NGOs.
EFSA “has not identified an area of critical concern” for glyphosate in humans, animals and the environment, it said in a statement. In the agency’s scientific methodology, a concern is defined as “critical” when it affects all the proposed uses of the active substance evaluated, thus preventing its authorisation.
It nevertheless noted “a high long-term risk in mammals” for half of the proposed uses of glyphosate and acknowledged that the lack of data prevented any definitive analysis.
This study, submitted Thursday to the European authorities, will serve as a basis for the European Union to decide whether or not to renew the authorization of the herbicide for five years. The current authorization runs until December 15.
But his conclusions provoked the indignation of many environmental NGOs, who deplored that the precautionary principle was not applied. Thirty of them – including Acting for the Environment or Réseau Action Climat – challenged the French government on Thursday.
Glyphosate: a controversial herbicide (AFP/Alain BOMMENEL, Laurence SAUBADU, Kun TIAN)
“Given the widely documented risks for the environment and human health, it is more than urgent to apply the precautionary principle enshrined in European texts and the French Constitution to put an end to glyphosate and finally begin a real transition. agriculture and food”, they continue. Greenpeace for its part called on “the European Commission and the Member States to oppose a renewal of the authorization” of the herbicide.
In total, the report, which will be made public in July, is based on 2,400 studies, 180,000 pages, and called on 90 experts from the Member States, argues the Authority.
However, it specifies that it was unable to finalize certain aspects of its assessment, in particular concerning the risks for aquatic plants, “due to a lack of data on their exposure to glyphosate”.
Similarly, no final advice is delivered on food consumption risks, “due to incomplete data on the amount of glyphosate residues in rotational crops such as carrots, lettuce and wheat”.
“However, this is not expected to lead to an exceedance of toxicologically safe levels ‘for humans’ and, therefore, no critical concerns have been identified,” the agency insists.
– Missing data –
The EFSA also notes the lack of data on the toxicity of one of the components present in the formula of a glyphosate-based pesticide submitted for evaluation, while stressing that there is “no indication of toxicity acute”.
Finally, several questions are left unanswered, in particular the general impact on biodiversity: while the experts recognize that the risks “are complex and depend on multiple factors”, the EFSA considers that “on the whole, the information available do not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn”, while noting “a lack of harmonized methodologies”.
Glyphosate, the active substance in several herbicides — including Monsanto’s famous Roundup, widely used around the world — was classified in 2015 as a “probable carcinogen” for humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. World Health Organization.
A group of experts from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France subsequently concluded in 2021 that “the existence of an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with a medium presumption of link” with glyphosate.
Conversely, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) ruled last year that the available scientific evidence did not allow classifying glyphosate as a carcinogen.
The Glyphosate France platform, which brings together companies marketing preparations based on this product in France, estimated Thursday that the conclusion of the EFSA represented “a crucial step in the procedure for renewing the approval”.
The German Bayer, which bought Monsanto in 2018, meanwhile “welcomed” the conclusions of the EFSA, believing that they lay the foundations “for a successful readmission of glyphosate in the EU”.
Europe is far from being the only region of the world where the use of glyphosate is debated. In the United States, Bayer has paid billions of dollars to resolve disputes.
© 2023 AFP
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