Science and Technology Daily reported on March 27 that on March 19, local time, the jury of the San Francisco court in the United States ruled in the first stage of the lawsuit that Monsanto Roundup herbicide was an important factor causing the plaintiff Hardeman to suffer from cancer.
"The verdict is not based on scientific conclusions, which are related to the level of scientific knowledge of the jurors and do not require citizens to have accurate and comprehensive knowledge of pesticides and cancers." On March 24, Jiang Tao, a senior engineer at the Biological Research Center of the Institute of Genetics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with Science and Technology Daily. Although the San Francisco court has now completed the first phase of the trial and made a ruling, the final decision in the case will not be made until the end of the second phase of the trial.
Hardeman once sprayed herbicides on the skin
Roundup herbicide is currently the most widely used herbicide in the world.
Previously, there was also a case of lawsuit against Monsanto Nongda brand herbicide carcinogenicity. On August 10, 2018, a jury in the Northern District Court for the District of California ruled that Monsanto compensated Johnson with $289 million. On the same day, Monsanto issued a statement saying it would appeal.
In testimony to a San Francisco court, hardman, 70, said he had accidentally sprayed herbicide on his skin before being diagnosed with cancer.
On March 19, local time, a jury at the San Francisco court in the United States ruled in the first phase of the lawsuit that Monsanto Roundup herbicide was an important factor in the cause of cancer caused by plaintiff Hardeman.
It is conclusive that glyphosate is not associated with human cancer
"While we sympathize with Mr. Hardeman, this ruling is scientifically untenable. First, there are countless people exposed to glyphosate worldwide, with only one or two carcinogenic lawsuits, which are statistically unconvincing. Second, major international regulatory and scientific authorities consider glyphosate not to be a carcinogen. Sun Yi, a researcher at the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said.
Glyphosate has a long-term safe use record of 40 years and has been used in more than 160 countries around the world, with a total of more than 300 independent toxicological studies conducted worldwide through extensive toxicological trials. More than 800 scientific studies around the world to date have come to the unanimous conclusion that glyphosate is not carcinogenic.
"Glyphosate is less toxic than general food additives." Xiao Guoying, a researcher at the Institute of Subtropical Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
"Compared with other herbicides with high toxicity and high residue, glyphosate has low toxicity and low residue, and under the current conditions, the safety of glyphosate is the highest among herbicides." Lin Min, director of the Institute of Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said.
Most of the jury members had no background in biology
The International Institute for Research on Cancer is the only agency in the world to list glyphosate as "more likely to cause cancer." In this ruling, the jury is likely to rely on its assessment report as the main basis for reasons of sympathy for the weak.
"Even many of the substances explicitly identified as carcinogenic as mentioned in the IARC report still appear in our daily lives. For example, french fries, potato chips and other high-temperature processed foods. Maybe one day we will also see people suing McDonald's, Starbucks and other companies, because they often consume Fries and chips provided by these companies that may cause cancer. Sun Yi, a researcher at the Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said.
"This drafting of the first phase of the ruling on the case of carcinogenicity of gandharma reminds us that scientific judgment should adhere to the rational spirit of scientific cognition, and not be disturbed by preset positions and subjective likes and dislikes." The conclusions of scientific questions are based on facts, especially on facts and logical, and cannot be changed by other forces. Jiang Tao said.