See for example
https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/rural-weekly/glyphosate-debate-ramps-up-as-farmers-speak-out/news-story/450beb793975bb0f71b952890b600de4
Much ado about nothing. I suspect that all organic molecules and many inorganic molecules will cause cancer if presented at the right time in the right dose, and to the right target. Even something as simple as pruning a fruit tree induces a chemical wounding response in the tree and that will be reflected in the fruit and at least one of those compounds is sure to cause cancer.
The next question: is the risk posed by glyphosate larger or smaller than the risk posed by other sources? It would be great to have a relative risk standard. So relative to tobacco, or beer/wine, solar radiation, or gasoline what is the risk posed by glyphosate?
The misfortune of glyphosate is that it has captured the popular attention. In the public mind it has become a great evil. People can gain influence, have followers, and look important by fueling this issue. It is now a political issue.
The problem is also that we have an illusion that natural is safe and good for us. Cyanide is natural. Strychnine, ricin, hemlock, and countless other natural products are all quite toxic. Plants use these chemicals to defend themselves against animals that would eat them. All plants have them.
If glyphosate is outlawed, it will be replaced with something else that has not been studied enough for us to identify any problems. It is safe until we can prove otherwise.
Couldn't agree more, but I think you have to look at the DDT issues in the 70's for comparison. DDT saved millions of lives, but was outlawed based on some very, very iffy science and a whole lot of political rabble rousing. I think the overall issues with glyphosate are quite similar.
Just as an aside, we routinely look for glyphosate in food products as part of our screening process, and have not detected any in more than 99% of the samples that we have analyzed (100s). Compared to many common pesticides with well proven human health effects that we routinely detect, the glyphosate issue is, in my mind, a complete non-problem. Show me another herbicide that is so effective and yet so effectively degraded in a short amount of time.
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