A new push by Bayer and agricultural groups seeks state laws preventing lawsuits that claim its glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup causes cancer if the product follows EPA labeling rules.
Hannah Fingerhut and David A. Lieb report for The Associated Press.
In short:
- Bayer-backed legislation is pending in at least eight U.S. states and Congress, aiming to shield pesticide companies from failure-to-warn lawsuits.
- Protesters in Iowa argue the bills would limit corporate accountability, citing personal stories of cancer diagnoses linked to Roundup exposure.
- Bayer, facing 177,000 lawsuits and $16 billion in legal costs, says losing Roundup could harm U.S. farmers and increase reliance on Chinese-made alternatives.
Key quote:
“I feel like we need accountability here in Iowa. At the end of the day, multinational chemical companies like Bayer should be held accountable.”
— Nick Schutt, part-time farmer with multiple family members diagnosed with cancer
Why this matters:
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world, but its safety remains a matter of fierce debate. While the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that it is "unlikely" to cause cancer in humans, some studies — and a 2015 classification by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer — suggest a possible link to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The controversy has sparked high-profile lawsuits, with juries awarding billions of dollars to plaintiffs who claim their illnesses were caused by long-term exposure. However, new laws could limit consumers' ability to seek damages for potential health risks.
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