Campaigners are calling for urgent action to curb the UK’s growing reliance on glyphosate, a widely used herbicide whose application has increased tenfold over the past 30 years. Originally adopted by Scottish farmers in the 1980s to dry crops before harvest, its use has since expanded dramatically across agriculture, public spaces, and domestic gardens. New data show that more than 2,200 tons were applied in the UK in 2024 alone, with over half used on cereals, prompting concerns about long-term health and environmental impacts.
The chemical’s safety remains highly contested. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) officially classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” though manufacturer Bayer continues to deny any cancer link. Campaign groups point to widespread evidence that exposure is associated with cancer and other serious diseases, as well as ecological harm such as water pollution and biodiversity loss. International developments have further intensified scrutiny, including major legal settlements in the United States and compensation schemes in France for farmers with Parkinson’s disease linked to pesticide exposure.
To learn how a disturbing pattern of corporate influence, manipulated evidence, and regulatory failure has resulted in glyphosate misleadingly being portrayed as ‘safe,’ see this article on our website.
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Thousands of tons of glyphosate are now applied every year to UK farmland as well as to municipal green spaces and domestic gardens. But the herbicide’s safety record has become deeply contested and – with its license up for renewal in December – there are calls for it to be banned or severely restricted.
[Source: theguardian.com]
[Image source: freepik.com]
Comment
Campaigners are calling for urgent action to curb the UK’s growing reliance on glyphosate, a widely used herbicide whose application has increased tenfold over the past 30 years. Originally adopted by Scottish farmers in the 1980s to dry crops before harvest, its use has since expanded dramatically across agriculture, public spaces, and domestic gardens. New data show that more than 2,200 tons were applied in the UK in 2024 alone, with over half used on cereals, prompting concerns about long-term health and environmental impacts.
The chemical’s safety remains highly contested. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) officially classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” though manufacturer Bayer continues to deny any cancer link. Campaign groups point to widespread evidence that exposure is associated with cancer and other serious diseases, as well as ecological harm such as water pollution and biodiversity loss. International developments have further intensified scrutiny, including major legal settlements in the United States and compensation schemes in France for farmers with Parkinson’s disease linked to pesticide exposure.
To learn how a disturbing pattern of corporate influence, manipulated evidence, and regulatory failure has resulted in glyphosate misleadingly being portrayed as ‘safe,’ see this article on our website.
Dr. Rath Health Foundation
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