2023-07-05 14:45:36
They want to put pressure on the authorities. Environmental NGOs delivered a letter to the French government on Wednesday calling on France to oppose the renewal of the authorization of glyphosate, on the eve of the publication of a much-awaited study on the subject.
Thursday, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) must indeed make public the conclusions of a study on “the risks of exposure to glyphosate for animals, humans and the environment”. EFSA was originally due to publish its findings in the second half of 2022, before announcing a postponement due to the “unprecedented” number of comments received.
Glyphosate classified in 2015 by WHO as “probable carcinogen”
However, the publication of this study will potentially have a significant impact, because it must serve as a basis for the EU to decide to extend, for five years, the authorization issued to the controversial herbicide on the European market.
“Our organizations demand that France take a stand against the re-authorization of this substance that is dangerous for health and the environment”, claim about fifteen NGOs (including Future Generations, Greenpeace, Réseau Action Climat or Les Amis de la Terre ) in their missive given to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne as well as to the Ministries of Agriculture, Ecological Transition and Health.
The subject of the use of this herbicide, massively used in the world, is particularly controversial. The World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate in March 2015 as a “probable carcinogen” to humans. “The toxic effects of glyphosate as well as its ubiquitous presence in the environment and living beings are therefore widely documented,” argue the signatories of the letter.
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