Glyphosate no cause for ‘critical concern’, EU agency says

In its long-awaited verdict on the risk posed by the divisive herbicide glyphosate, EU food safety authority EFSA found ‘no critical areas of concern,’ although it said data gaps did not allow conclusions on certain aspects.

The agency’s assessment, which was presented on Thursday (6 July), is a key step in the EU’s decision process on whether the current approval of glyphosate as an active substance in plant protection products should be renewed.

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide as an active substance in plant protection. The question of renewal has been highly controversial as views diverge over glyphosate’s impact on health and the environment.

The review “did not identify any critical areas of concern” when it comes to the risk posed by glyphosate “to humans and animals or the environment,” EFSA said in a statement.

According to the agency, a concern qualifies as ‘critical’ when it touches all proposed uses of the substance in question – in the case of glyphosate, this includes its use throughout different stages of planting.

EFSA’s assessment comes after the EU chemicals agency ECHA already concluded in May 2022 that glyphosate cannot be classed as carcinogenic, that is, as cancer-causing. Together, the two agencies’ verdicts are set to inform the EU’s decision on whether to reapprove the substance.

Currently, glyphosate is approved in the EU until 15 December 2023, after the European Commission temporarily extended the approval for one year to allow more time for the decision process – including the EFSA study, which the agency had to push back due to the “unprecedented” amount of input to consider.

Data gaps

However, when it comes to the adverse effects that glyphosate use can have on wild plants and animals by making its way into the natural environment – called ecotoxicology – a conservative risk assessment based on the available data “identified a high long-term risk to mammals in 12 out of 23 proposed uses of glyphosate,” according to EFSA.

Meanwhile, certain issues are also left as “outstanding” or “could not be finalised” by the assessment due to gaps in the available data.

This includes “the assessment of one of the impurities in glyphosate, the consumer dietary risk assessment, and the assessment of risks to aquatic plants,” the authority said.

When it comes to the impact of glyphosate use on biodiversity – a point often raised by critics of the controversial herbicide – the assessment also paints a more muddled picture.

The review “recognised that the risks associated with the representative uses of glyphosate are complex and depend on multiple factors” and “the available information does not allow firm conclusions to be drawn on this aspect.”

Commission to temporarily re-approve glyphosate without member states’ go-ahead

Member states once again blocked the Commission’s proposal to extend the marketing authorisation of the herbicide glyphosate for another year, but the EU executive is set to still approve an interim renewal before mid-December.

Mixed reactions

EFSA’s verdict was welcomed by the Glyphosate Renewal Group, a group of companies in favour of renewing the substance’s approval.

“This final scientific conclusion lays the basis for the successful re-approval of glyphosate in the EU and is consistent with conclusions from leading health regulatory bodies from around the world for nearly 50 years,” the Group said in a statement.

Health and environment campaigners, however, were less pleased and criticised the fact that the authority gave a conclusion on the risk associated with glyphosate despite the identified data gaps.

“EFSA stating an absence of unacceptable risks is concerning, especially if the authority has identified data gaps in the dossier preventing firm conclusions regarding the risk assessment of representative uses of glyphosate-based products,” Natacha Cingotti, programme lead at the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), said in a statement.

In terms of effects on human health, “robust scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports concerns about glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential as well as other impacts for human development, or the reproductive system,” she added.

Glyphosate does not cause cancer, says EU committee

It is “not justified” to conclude that the herbicide glyphosate causes cancer, an expert committee inside the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has said, invoking widespread criticism from health and environmental campaigners.

Campaigners have frequently voiced concerns about the review process on the basis of EFSA’s assessment, warning that it focuses too strongly on industry-commissioned research.

But Guilhem de Seze, head of EFSA’s risk assessment production department, refuted this.

“The risk assessment and peer review of glyphosate represent the work of dozens of scientists from EFSA and the Member States in a process that has spanned over three years,” he said on Thursday (6 July).

[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Alice Taylor]

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