Farmers count on chemical herbicides to keep their fields weed-free. In the last few months though, scientists brought together by the considered two of the most heavily used farm chemicals and said exposure to weed-killing chemicals could come at a cost.
The panel looked at , the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup and other commercial herbicides, and determined it probably could cause cancer. For the second herbicide, , which has been on the market since the 1940s, the group also said it was possible the chemical could cause cancer.
The IARC, part of the World Health Organization, assembles scientific panels to evaluate data on different chemicals and decide if there is evidence they could cause cancer. It has reviewed nearly over the last 50 years and sorted them into : causes cancer, probably causes cancer, possibly causes cancer, not classifiable, or non-carcinogenic.
Environmental groups want regulators in the U.S. to take notice of IARC's findings. IARC doesn't regulate herbicides itself, but the agency's decisions do carry weight. is taking another look at glyphosate 鈥� which was already under by the Environmental Protection Agency.
"IARC is the decision-making body to which every regulator around the world looks to," said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group.
Farmers fighting herbicide resistant weeds will likely look to spray , which is why Faber said the EPA needs to take IARC's conclusions into account when deciding how much is safe, both for farmers and their neighbors.
"There are millions of rural residents who use playgrounds and or within the drift zones of corn and soybean fields," Faber said.
Hazard Versus Risk
The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't look at herbicides the same way as IARC. Take the case of 2,4-D. Anneclaire De Roos, an epidemiologist at Drexler University and a member of the 2,4-D group at IARC, said the scientists' task was only to ask whether a chemical is a potential hazard.
"Is there enough evidence to say that this agent or chemical causes cancer, and if so what types of cancer is there sufficient evidence for?" De Roos said the group asks.
At the end of that hazard assessment, scientists concluded 2,4-D is a possible carcinogen. But so are coffee and Aloe vera, according to IARC.
The EPA's job is to go beyond that designation and to assess risk. That is, the EPA wants to determine whether it is likely to cause cancer or if there is a safe way to use it in the real world.
"They also try to characterize what is the dose response," De Roos said. "How much exposure do you need to develop cancer?"
Julie Goodman, a toxicologist and consultant who works with the chemical-manufacturer supported , said 90 government agencies around the world have conducted risk assessments on 2,4-D and found it's safe to use.
"Farmers or anyone else using or potentially exposed to 2,4-D should really rely on the results of the risk assessments," Goodman said. "And these risk assessments demonstrate that 2,4-D does not increase cancer risk."
The herbicide industry is also pushing back against IARC's classification of glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. Monsanto said to review the science on the chemical.
Farmers And Weeds
and farmers in the U.S. apply more than 300 million pounds of herbicides each year. Those chemicals are an important part of how Nebraska farmer Nathan Dorn does business.
Walking down a strip of grass between a field of corn and a field of soybeans, he bends down to pull up a green, leafy stalk of pigweed by its roots. He snaps the stalk like celery.
"What do you see there," asked Dorn while squeezing water out of the weed. "That's moisture this plant is using to grow that's not in there for my corn, not in there for my soybeans."
That's why, before he plants his crop, Dorn sprays the field with an herbicide cocktail. Each acre is sprayed twice, some three times, to wipe out weeds.
"You want to make sure you have crops in your fields and not weeds because weeds don't end up in the combine bin," Dorn said. "Weeds don't pay the bills."
In the end, the real risk from any chemical is tied to the dose and that's up to the EPA. Dorn is comfortable following EPA guidelines, and right now that means he'll keep using chemicals like glyphosate and 2,4-D as long as they keep killing weeds.
"It's effective and you know what you're going to get," Dorn said. "Right or wrong, it works."
