Federal Judge, William Shubb has issued a permanent injunction against the state of California preventing the labeling as a potential carcinogen, herbicides containing glyphosate marketed extensively as Roundup™.  In his finding, Judge Shubb noted “the great weight of evidence indicates that Glyphosate is not a known carcinogen.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has declared that glyphosate is not a carcinogen based on literature reviews and epidemiologic studies conducted on farm workers in the U.S..

The erroneous classification of glyphosate as a carcinogenic arises from a 2015 monograph issued by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) designating the herbicide as a “probable cause of cancer in humans”.  The IARC report was subsequently withdrawn following criticism by environmental scientists. Unfortunately the perception that glyphosate is carcinogenic persists. The principal author of the monograph also served as an expert witness for plaintiffs in claims again Monsanto, the manufacturer of the compound, representing an egregious conflict of interest. 

Verdicts have been handed down in civil lawsuits against Monsanto claiming that glyphosate was responsible for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  Verdicts that were under appeal and an additional universe of cases were recently settled for $10 billion by Bayer AG that acquired Monsanto and its liabilities.