A bill that would have blocked lawsuits against pesticide companies over health warnings failed again in the Iowa legislature, despite a push from Bayer-backed lobbyists and support from Senate Republicans.
Anika Jane Beamer reports for Inside Climate News.
In short:
- The Iowa Senate narrowly passed a bill preventing failure-to-warn lawsuits against pesticide companies whose labels meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, but the House declined to consider it before the legislative deadline.
- Critics say the bill, backed by Bayer’s lobbying group, would erode accountability for glyphosate-linked cancers, which remain a major concern in Iowa, a state with the second-highest cancer rate in the country.
- Despite millions spent in lobbying and ad campaigns, opposition from farmers and advocacy groups helped stall the legislation, which may resurface in other forms later.
Key quote:
“We all know we have a cancer plague in the state, but we’re supposed to be fixing it, not advocating for it.”
— Janice Weiner, Democratic state senator
Why this matters:
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S., found on everything from corn and soy fields to suburban lawns. While the EPA has repeatedly said it's unlikely to cause cancer, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified it as “probably carcinogenic,” and Bayer has settled billions in legal claims linking it to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Bills like Iowa’s attempt to shield pesticide companies from lawsuits if their labels follow EPA guidelines, even when evidence points to potential harm.
Learn more:
