24,500 Call on the EPA to Ban Roundup

Media Releases

U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Washington, D.C. – More than 24,000 people from across the country called on the Environmental Protection Agency today to ban Roundup unless and until it can be proven safe. 

The EPA is currently holding a Scientific Advisory Board meeting, reviewing the carcinogenic potential of glyphosate. Last year, the World Health Organization’s IARC (“International Agency for Research on Cancer”) classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans.

Kara Cook-Schultz, director of U.S. PIRG’s campaign to Ban Roundup Now, urged the EPA to “use sound, unbiased science in their review of glyphosate and its probable carcinogenic effects. This is especially important now, as glyphosate is currently found in 75 percent of food tested by the USDA in American grocery stores.”

Compounding the health risks: glyphosate-based herbicides are the most-used weed killer in U.S. history, in large part due to the introduction of genetically modified “Roundup Ready” crops, which allow farmers to spray glyphosate-based herbicides directly on the crops without killing the crop.

We are now seeing glyphosate residue in many food products. Recent studies have found glyphosate in infant formula,[1] beer,[2] wine,[3] and breast milk.[4]

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[1] Carey Gillam, “Fears over Roundup herbicide residues prompt private testing,” Reuters, 10 Apr. 2015.

[4] Carey Gillam, “Fears over herbicide residues prompt private testing,” Roundup Reuters, 10 Apr. 2015.