Roundup is a popular herbicide made with glyphosate. In fact, it is the most widely used herbicide in the United States. Agricultural workers, landscapers and farmers have used glyphosate-based herbicides since 1974.
Glyphosate exposure, however, has been linked by science with potential health risks, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a deadly form of cancer.
While Roundup containing glyphosate is no longer being sold to residential consumers in the United States who wish to control weeds, it is still sold for commercial and agricultural use. Since Roundup may present a cancer risk, you may be wondering, “Why is Roundup still being sold?” This article will go into detail about why the popular weed killer Roundup is still being sold in the United States.
A Brief History of Roundup and Its Controversies
Glyphosate was first discovered in 1950 by a chemist working for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Cilag. Cilag failed to discover a medical use for the herbicide, so they sold the chemical to Stauffer chemicals. The chemical was then patented in 1964 regarding its use in the mining industry.
While this was occurring, Monsanto had been coming up with chemicals to soften water with. When these compounds got tested as herbicides by Dr. Phil Hamm, Hamm discovered that perennial weeds could be killed by organophosphonates.
Monsanto, with Dr. John Franz’s assistance, started exploring the herbicidal properties of organophosphonate derivatives. The company, in 1970, synthesized glyphosate, which they patented in 1971 for use as an herbicide.
Glyphosate found its way onto the herbicide market in 1974, marketed as Roundup.
Once Roundup found its way onto the herbicide market, it quickly ended up being the main herbicide sold in the United States.
1996 saw Monsanto develop glyphosate-resistant crops for the first time. At first, these crops included cotton, soybeans, canola, alfalfa and corn. Eventually, glyphosate-resistant varieties of most agricultural plants were developed.
Because of this the use of glyphosate soared in the United States: around 66 percent of all Roundup used in the United States since the year 1974 was used from 2004 to 2014.
Concerns have been raised about Roundup’s impact on human health, though. Tens of thousands of Roundup lawsuits have been filed. The lawsuits allege that plaintiffs have developed NHL due to their use of Roundup.
Understanding Roundup’s Active Ingredient: Glyphosate
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a non-selective herbicide. This means that it kills most plants.
This chemical kills plants by stopping them from producing proteins which are required for growth. It accomplishes this by stopping a pathway for shikimic acid, an enzyme.
There are concerns, though, that glyphosate exposure can lead to people developing NHL.
The chemical was designated a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This designation was due to “limited” evidence of cancer in humans and “sufficient” evidence of animal cancer. The agency also said that there is “strong” evidence of the herbicide’s genotoxicity.
Roundup is a litigation risk for Monsanto and Bayer because several scientific meta-analyses, studies and reviews have also linked the herbicide with NHL:
- A review, in 2014, found an association between glyphosate exposure and a type of NHL known as B-cell lymphoma.
- A meta-analysis, in 2019, concluded that Roundup exposure is linked with an increased risk of NHL development. This meta-analysis involved six studies and linked Roundup exposure with a 41 percent increase in the risk of NHL development.
- A review, in 2021, came to the conclusion that a compelling, coherent evidence pattern exists which supports a link between Roundup exposure and NHL.
However, other agencies have come to conflicting findings.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2020, concluded that no human health risk is posed by glyphosate. The agency found that no risk is associated with glyphosate residue on food, or exposure on roadsides, yards or farms.
2023 saw the European Food Safety Authority conclude that no critical areas of concern were found regarding glyphosate’s impact on human health. The agency noted that the European Chemicals Agency in 2022, came to the conclusion that the herbicide fails to meet the needed scientific criteria to be classified as a carcinogen.
Despite findings which are conflicting, though, civil courts in the United States have often ruled in favor of plaintiffs suing Bayer/Monsanto over claims that Roundup caused the development of NHL. In addition, tens of thousands of plaintiffs have been able to successfully reach a financial settlement with Bayer after filing a Roundup lawsuit.
Regulatory Landscape and Legal Battles
Just as agencies such as the IARC (part of the World Health Organization) and EPA have differed on their view of the safety of prolonged exposure to Roundup, there are discrepancies in approaches to glyphosate use worldwide.
In the Netherlands, legislation has prohibited the sale of products containing glyphosate for the use by individuals at home.
The private use of the herbicide in residential areas was outlawed by Carinthia, a state in Austria in 2019.
In 2015, glyphosate was banned in El Salvador.
In 2015, glyphosate was banned in Sri Lanka, but 2018 saw its usage in the plantation sector re-authorized in 2018.
In 2019, Vietnam banned the use of the herbicide.
Mexico was set to ban glyphosate in April 2024, but a pause was announced by the government at the last minute.
In December 2023, Germany temporarily lifted a total ban on glyphosate, and in April 2024, Germany’s cabinet approved restrictions on the herbicide’s use.
How Is Roundup Still Legal?
Roundup is still legal primarily due to agencies such as the EPA concluding that it does not pose a risk to human health, despite a significant amount of evidence which suggests the opposite.
However, Roundup litigation has led to glyphosate no longer being sold for consumer use.
Monsanto has had to pay out around $11 billion in financial compensation in the form of lawsuit settlements over Roundup. The company estimates that nearly 100,000 lawsuits have been settled and that 54,000 more lawsuits are still active.
Because of the significant liability that Bayer and Monsanto face due to Roundup, Bayer announced in 2021 that Roundup would no longer be sold to residential consumers beginning in the year 2023. Roundup is still sold to consumers, but with a new formulation that does not contain glyphosate.
In addition to the $11 billion in settlements that have resulted from Roundup litigation, there have been several major court verdicts in favor of plaintiffs regarding Roundup lawsuits:
- 2018 saw $289 million awarded by a California jury to a plaintiff who alleged that he developed NHL due to Roundup. An appeals court later reduced this verdict to $20.5 million.
- 2019 saw $2.05 billion awarded by a California jury to a married couple who alleged that they developed NHL due to Roundup. An appeals court later reduced this verdict to $86.2 million.
- 2019 saw $80.2 million awarded by a federal jury to a plaintiff who alleged that he developed NHL due to Roundup. An appeals court later reduced this verdict to $25 million.
- 2023 saw $175 million awarded by a Philadelphia jury to a plaintiff who alleged that he developed NHL due to his use of Roundup in a garden.
- 2023 saw $332 million awarded by a California jury to a plaintiff who alleged that he developed NHL due to Roundup. This verdict was later reduced by an appeals court to $28 million.
- 2023 saw $1.56 billion awarded by a Missouri jury to four plaintiffs who alleged that they developed NHL due to Roundup. An appeals court later reduced this verdict to $611 million.
- 2024 saw $2.25 billion awarded by a Pennsylvania jury to a plaintiff who alleged he developed NHL due to Roundup. An appeals court later reduced this verdict to $400 million.
The Economic Importance of Roundup in Agriculture
Glyphosate is popular because it effectively kills many different plants, including woody plants, broadleaf plants and grasses.
It is also popular because of the existence of glyphosate-resistant crops. Using glyphosate to kill weeds around glyphosate-resistant crops is easy, convenient and effective. Spraying kills weeds but doesn’t kill the crops. It’s a fast, easy, effective and cost-effective form of weed control around these crops.
A 2019 study found that farmers prefer using glyphosate to alternatives because it is an important piece of their agronomic strategies to prevent infestation by weeds and save labor and work costs, particularly on large farms.
A 2017 study found that if glyphosate usage restrictions led to glyphosate-resistant crops no longer being planted all over the world, an annual loss of $6.76 billion in global farm income would result. The study found that deficits of 18.6 million tons of soybean, 3.1 million tons of corn, and 1.44 million tons of canola would be seen. The study found that an additional 8.2 million kilograms of herbicides would be used, resulting in a negative impact on the environment, and that additional carbon emissions would result to the tune of the equivalent of 11.77 million cars being added to roads. The study found that prices of all grains throughout the world would rise, including a 5.4 percent rise in the price of soybeans.
A 2020 study found that a particular challenge raised by farming without glyphosate would be maintaining low weed seed banks.
Phasing out the use of glyphosate could be costly and labor-intensive. When Davis, California phased out the use of glyphosate in 2017 in public spaces, an additional $400,000 was reported by the city regarding its annual weed control budget.
Alternatives to Roundup: Viability and Challenges
One of the primary challenges in developing glyphosate alternatives is herbicide resistance in weeds. The extensive use of almost any herbicide may lead to herbicide-resistant weeds developing. For example, several glyphosate-resistant weeds have been discovered, including rigid ryegrass, Italian ryegrass, goosegrass and horseweed. The big problem here is that only the mechanism of action for goosegrass resistance has been discovered. Over 500 herbicide-resistant plants are now known.
Herbicide development is made difficult by not knowing mechanisms of resistance. To evade or postpone resistance, new herbicides need new mechanisms of action. However, only a single herbicide with a new mechanism of action has been developed in the past 40 years.
While there were 432 patents in the United States for new herbicides in 1997, there were only 65 in 2009. This decline was largely due to glyphosate’s popularity – it is difficult to compete with succes.
An additional challenge is the time and cost necessary to develop new products. To develop a new agricultural chemical, a process which may take eight to ten years is needed, involving $200 million and the screening of 100,000 compounds.
The primary problem with alternative herbicides is that none of them match glyphosate’s cost-efficiency and broad-spectrum effectiveness. Many alternatives, such as paraquat, may be just as, if not more dangerous, as well.
Mechanical weeding works. However, it’s quite inefficient and leads to carbon being released from soil.
Consumer Awareness and Market Dynamics
Polls clearly show that the public is concerned about glyphosate and its impact on human health.
In 2016, a Yougov poll found that a glyphosate ban was supported by two-thirds of Europeans. 56 percent of Britons, 60 percent of French, 70 percent of Germans and 75 percent of Italians backed the ban.
In 2023, a poll found that 81.8 percent of Europeans in Spain, Romania, Poland, Germany, France and Denmark are concerned about pesticides and their impact on the environment. 75.9 percent of Europeans expressed concern about the impact on health of pesticides. Only 27.7 percent of Europeans felt that pesticides’ benefits outweigh their risks. 61.9 percent of Europeans said that glyphosate should be banned.
Public concern over glyphosate, as well as public reaction to news about glyphosate reaction, has caused economic impacts. For example, Bayer, in 2023, announced that their second quarter Crop Science sales fell by 18.5 percent.
However, farmers in agricultural regions continue to prefer glyphosate for its cost-efficiency and effectiveness, and this is responsible for its continued presence in agriculture.
Problems With Roundup in Home Gardening
Roundup containing glyphosate is no longer available for sale to consumers in the United States. Besides, it is not recommended for people to use glyphosate for home gardening because of its link with NHL.
Alternatives to Roundup for home gardeners include herbicides based on acetic acid, corn gluten, essential oils, iron and soap salts. Manual removal is another alternative, as is mulch, which can suffocate weeds by blocking sunlight.
It is important that consumers make informed decisions when they use potentially hazardous chemicals. It is also important for consumers to make informed decisions when they pursue legal action when appropriate over potentially hazardous chemicals.
Jeffrey Nadrich
Jeffrey Nadrich is a nationally-recognized California plaintiff’s personal injury attorney. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Hastings College of the Law. He has successfully represented thousands of injury clients over the last 40 years.
