The World Health Organization is set to deliver a verdict on the potential danger of 2,4-D herbicides widely used in the agribusiness, and which was one of the key components of Agent Orange used during US herbicidal warfare in Vietnam.
The move by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a research
arm of WHO, to examine the chemical comes shortly after the
agency classified glyphosate or Roundup herbicide, produced by
Monsanto, as “probably” cancerogenic.
Now the stage is set to determine the possible health risk posed
by the 2,4-D. Some 24 IARC scientists are due to deliver the
verdict after examining pro and con studies on the issue. Their
week-long meeting is scheduled to start on June 2 in Lyon,
France.
Produced mainly by Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co.,
2,4-D is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world.
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Humans could be exposed to the chemical through the skin, mouth
or airways, if one just forgets to wash their hands. If exposed
for a prolonged period of time, the herbicide could cause cancer,
a few scientific studies have suggested in the past.
Short term exposure symptoms of 2,4-D poisoning could include
irritation and inflammation of eyes and skin, hives, nausea, and
difficulty breathing. The herbicide can also be very toxic to
fish and other aquatic life, once it enters a water stream.
“I do think they are going to upgrade 2,4-D” Michael
Hansen, a senior scientist at Consumers Union and consultant to
the WHO told Reuters. “There is just as strong, or even a
stronger case [for links to cancer], on 2,4-D than there was for
glyphosate.”
Many scientific studies over the years have come up with evidence
showing cancer connections with 2,4-D, said IARC scientist Maria
Leon. In particular environmental exposure to the herbicide on
the farm has been hypothesized to contribute to the long-term
increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). IARC working group is to
determine the strength of the evidence offered by both critics
and supporters of 2,4-D use, Leon said.
Denying any carcinogenic links of 2,4-D, Dow Chemical is ready to
put out a fight to protects its business interests, and will send
a scientific task team, armed with some 14 company funded studies
that dismisses 2,4-D as cancer causing agent.
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“The epidemiology evidence does not support an association
between 2,4-D and NHL, gastric cancer, or prostate cancer
risk,” said Julie Goodman, a scientist and consultant
working for the 2,4-D task force.
Meanwhile the company itself in a statement to Reuters claimed
that “no national regulatory authority in the world considers
2,4-D a carcinogen.”
In an agribusiness chemical arms race, Dow’s development of
2,4-D-resistant crops came about once first-generation
genetically-modified crops made by Monsanto evolved to resist the
company’s Roundup herbicide. The flood of new GE crops increased
the use of glyphosate, also linked to a host of other ill health
effects, and the emergence of glyphosate-resistant superweeds.
The 2,4-D chemical, combined with glyphosate, makes up the
herbicide Enlist Duo. The chemical also makes up half of the
toxic mix in the now infamous Agent Orange, used by the United
States during the Vietnam War, which is thought to have resulted
in the deaths of an estimated 400,000 and birth defects in
500,000 people.