<span id="midArticle_start"/><span id="midArticle_0"/>The World Health Organization is set to examine a widely used pesticide and agribusiness is bracing for bad news, less than three months after the group classified another popular herbicide as "probably" cancer-causing.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>Twenty-four scientists representing WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) are set to analyze scientific findings regarding links between cancer in humans and the herbicide known as 2,4-D at a June 2-9 meeting in Lyon, France.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>A separate group of IARC scientists in March unanimously decided to classify glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup weedkiller, as "probably carcinogenic to humans." The designation prompted outrage and calls for a retraction from Monsanto, and demands by some public officials and consumers for bans on the pesticide.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Many believe the same could happen for 2,4-D.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"I do think they are going to upgrade 2,4-D," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union who has served on an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as a WHO consultation project.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"There is just as strong, or even a stronger case (for links to cancer), on 2,4-D than there was for glyphosate," he said.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>IARC's work is of particular concern to Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co . The company manufactures 2,4-D and this year is rolling out a product that combines 2,4-D with glyphosate after gaining approval from the Environmental Protection Agency last year.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Dow will have representatives at the meeting, and a 2,4-D task force backed by Dow funded an analysis of 14 studies that refutes concerns about 2,4-D and cancer that has been submitted to IARC.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"The epidemiology evidence does not support an association between 2,4-D and NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), gastric cancer, or prostate cancer risk," said Julie Goodman, a scientist and consultant working for the 2,4-D task force.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>However, a different analysis of scientific studies did find cancer connections with 2,4-D, said IARC scientist Maria Leon, who co-authored the analysis last year.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>There were indications that farm exposure to 2,4-D was associated with a 40 percent higher risk of NHL. Determining the strength of the evidence will be up to the IARC working group, Leon said.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Maarten Bosland, a U.S. cancer scientist and member of the IARC group evaluating 2,4-D, said he knows the work will be closely watched and that the outcome will rely on the scientific evidence.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"There is nothing that anybody can say at this point. We haven't seen all the evidence," Bosland said.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>Like glyphosate, 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) is a long-used, popular herbicide. Homeowners as well as farmers and ranchers use products containing 2,4-D.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Critics for years have said 2,4-D has very clear ties to several types of cancer and note that it was a key ingredient in Agent Orange, which was used to defoliate jungles in the Vietnam War. But agribusiness interests, U.S. regulators and others say evidence of cancer connections is lacking.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>A coalition of U.S. farmer and environmental groups have sued the EPA, seeking to overturn approval for Dow's new herbicide.
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>
<span id="midArticle_2"/> (Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by Richard Chang)
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<span id="midArticle_1"/>Twenty-four scientists representing WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) are set to analyze scientific findings regarding links between cancer in humans and the herbicide known as 2,4-D at a June 2-9 meeting in Lyon, France.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>A separate group of IARC scientists in March unanimously decided to classify glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup weedkiller, as "probably carcinogenic to humans." The designation prompted outrage and calls for a retraction from Monsanto, and demands by some public officials and consumers for bans on the pesticide.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Many believe the same could happen for 2,4-D.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>"I do think they are going to upgrade 2,4-D," said Michael Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union who has served on an advisory committee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as a WHO consultation project.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"There is just as strong, or even a stronger case (for links to cancer), on 2,4-D than there was for glyphosate," he said.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> <span class="first-article-divide"/>IARC's work is of particular concern to Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co . The company manufactures 2,4-D and this year is rolling out a product that combines 2,4-D with glyphosate after gaining approval from the Environmental Protection Agency last year.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>Dow will have representatives at the meeting, and a 2,4-D task force backed by Dow funded an analysis of 14 studies that refutes concerns about 2,4-D and cancer that has been submitted to IARC.
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"The epidemiology evidence does not support an association between 2,4-D and NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma), gastric cancer, or prostate cancer risk," said Julie Goodman, a scientist and consultant working for the 2,4-D task force.
<span id="midArticle_9"/>However, a different analysis of scientific studies did find cancer connections with 2,4-D, said IARC scientist Maria Leon, who co-authored the analysis last year.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> <span class="second-article-divide"/>There were indications that farm exposure to 2,4-D was associated with a 40 percent higher risk of NHL. Determining the strength of the evidence will be up to the IARC working group, Leon said.
<span id="midArticle_11"/>Maarten Bosland, a U.S. cancer scientist and member of the IARC group evaluating 2,4-D, said he knows the work will be closely watched and that the outcome will rely on the scientific evidence.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>"There is nothing that anybody can say at this point. We haven't seen all the evidence," Bosland said.
<span id="midArticle_13"/> <span class="third-article-divide"/>Like glyphosate, 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) is a long-used, popular herbicide. Homeowners as well as farmers and ranchers use products containing 2,4-D.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>Critics for years have said 2,4-D has very clear ties to several types of cancer and note that it was a key ingredient in Agent Orange, which was used to defoliate jungles in the Vietnam War. But agribusiness interests, U.S. regulators and others say evidence of cancer connections is lacking.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>A coalition of U.S. farmer and environmental groups have sued the EPA, seeking to overturn approval for Dow's new herbicide.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>
<span id="midArticle_1"/>
<span id="midArticle_2"/> (Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by Richard Chang)
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