Second Major Judgement Against Bayer's Monsanto & Its Roundup Brand Herbicide - Freedonia Analysts Weigh in
CLEVELAND, March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 19, a jury in the United States District Court in San Francisco unanimously ruled that Roundup was a substantial factor in causing Edwin Hardeman, who used the product on his property for 26 years, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
This was the second of what has grown to be more than 11,000 such cases pending that are claiming that Monsanto's herbicide caused non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but the first federal case to go to trial.
In a related statement, Bayer said, "We have great sympathy for Mr. Hardeman and his family, but an extensive body of science supports the conclusion that Roundup was not the cause of his cancer." It continued, "Bayer stands behind these products and will vigorously defend them."
According to Freedonia analyst Emily Park, "Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is one of the most common lawn and garden herbicides and has been in use since the 1970s. Roundup has positioned Monsanto as one of the leading suppliers to the $1.8 billion US market for lawn and garden herbicides."
Furthermore, she notes, "Health and environmental concerns play a key role in herbicide product formulations. All such products manufactured, distributed, or sold in the US must be approved for registration by the EPA. In order to acquire EPA approval of a pesticide, scientific evidence verifying a product's safety for specific applications is necessary. Once approved, the pesticide must be labeled, stating the proper instructions for use, handling, storage, and disposal."
Although the EPA and many scientific studies from other organizations have deemed Roundup to be safe, that finding hasn't been universal. In March 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer said the key ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is "probably carcinogenic to humans."
According to Jennifer Mapes-Christ, Manager of Freedonia's Consumer & Commercial group, "The general concern about the health effects of herbicides and pesticides is driving interest in niche organic garden products and the reduced use of herbicides overall. The rising trend toward edible gardening at home is furthering that movement away from herbicide use in general. The majority of Americans feel they should be environmentally responsible, and gardeners believe this at an even higher rate.
Mapes-Christ continues, "Still, many homeowners, property managers, landscapers, and farmers continue to use Roundup and other herbicides – although sometimes in improper quantities – to save the time and labor involved in manually removing weeds."
Roundup is the primary herbicide used on the vast majority of corn, soybean, and cotton acreage in the US as many farmers have invested in the biotech seeds Monsanto sells that are designed to withstand the spray.
Mapes-Christ adds, "Agricultural users continue to stand by the product due to its effectiveness at a low cost. Keeping costs low and sticking with established practices are particularly motivating these days as many of these farmers are struggling under a difficult economy, with tariffs hampering their ability to compete in key export markets."
Additional analysis of herbicides and other lawn and garden consumables can be found in the following Freedonia reports:
Lawn & Garden Consumables in the US
Lawn & Garden Consumables: Consumer Insights.
For more information on these and other lawn and garden industry studies, please see Freedonia's Consumer Goods segment.
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