The WHO cancer research unit has deemed 2,4-D, the active ingredient of Dow’s herbicide – once used in infamous Agent Orange – as ‘possibly’ causing cancer. The chemical ranked one behind the ‘probably carcinogenic’ glyphosate in Monsanto’s Roundup.
Upon careful review of
scientific data regarding 2,4-D, a chemical used for a Dow
AgroSciences product, WHO’s International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) unit has determined that the weed killer be
classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
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MORE: WHO cancer division to rule on widespread herbicide’s
carcinogenic hazard
The verdict, produced by a team of 24 scientists, including he
Dow scientific lobby, came after a week-long scientific findings
review that took place on June 2-9, which met in Lyon, France.
IARC said that the “possibly carcinogenic”
classification was assigned because of “inadequate evidence in
humans and limited evidence in experimental animals” of links
between 2,4-D and cancer.
Studies over the years pointed to evidence showing cancer
connections with 2,4-D, especially in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
However IARC said, “epidemiological studies did not find
strong or consistent increases in risk of NHL or other cancers in
relation to 2,4-D exposure.”
WHO said that epidemiological studies provided “strong
evidence that 2,4-D induces oxidative stress … and moderate
evidence that 2,4-D causes immunosuppression.”
Breaking! 2,4 D deemed a “possible” carcinogen! #endglyphosate@new_resistancepic.twitter.com/tsuxvMwPN0
— A New Resistance (@new_resistance) June
23, 2015
Since its inception in
1945, 2,4-D has been widely used to control weeds in urban and
residential settings. The chemical also makes up half of the
toxic mix in Agent Orange, once 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.
Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co,
rejected the findings of the IARC review, claiming the new
classification is “inconsistent with government findings in
nearly 100 countries.”
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MORE: Too ‘dramatic’: Monsanto shuns WHO verdict that Roundup
‘probably’ causes cancer
Dow says WHO finding are based on “incomplete”
information that has focused on “whether a substance or
activity could be a carcinogen, not whether it is a carcinogen
when used under real-world circumstances.”
“IARC has classified only one of about 1,000 agents and
activities it has reviewed as ‘probably not carcinogenic to
humans,” said John Cuffe, from Dow’s Global Regulatory
Sciences and Regulatory Affairs. “IARC has classified
products we use as potential carcinogens, including coffee, aloe
vera, and pickled vegetables.”
The move by IARC to brand 2,4-D as possibly carcinogenic comes
shortly after the agency classified glyphosate or Roundup
herbicide, produced by Monsanto, as “probably”
carcinogenic.