A popular weedkiller may cause cancer, a World Health Organization agency says

The weedkiller, sprayed widely on farms and used in a number of popular lawn-care products, has been designated as “possibly” carcinogenic to humans by a World Health Organization research arm.

French Environment and Energy Minister Segolene Royal symbolically removes Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller atomizers from stands as she visits a garden shop at Bonneuil-Sur-Marne near Paris, France, June 16, 2015. Royal has asked garden shops to stop over-the-counter sales of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller as part of a wider fight against pesticides seen as potentially harmful to humans.The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization (WHO), said in March that glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup was "probably carcinogenic to humans." REUTERS/Charles Platiau TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1GPHC

The analysis, published last week in Lancet Oncology, showed that there is strong evidence that the herbicide, 2,4-D, causes an imbalance in the body called oxidative stress, and moderate evidence that it leads to immunosuppression, but the panel concluded that there was insufficient information to make a stronger link to cancers.

The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer also classified the insecticide lindane, which was once used for insect control in agriculture and as a treatment for lice but is now restricted as a moderately hazardous substance, as carcinogenic – its strongest classification – for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and the insecticide DDT, introduced in World War II and later banned in many parts of the world, as “probably” carcinogenic. In March, the group also gave the “probably” carcinogenic label to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s flagship herbicide Roundup, which had been the No. 1 weedkiller in the United States.

The addition of 2,4-D to the WHO group’s cancer list is especially significant because it is so widespread in our environment today. The chemical is contained in products such as Ortho Weed B Gone Max and Bayer Advanced Lawn Weed & Crabgrass Killer.

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