Lord Greaves
Main Page: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
What my noble friend says is true. There are arguments for glyphosate. It is highly effective. It adds to the yields. You need to sow less, which leaves more headland, hedges, et cetera, for the environment. What my noble friend says is certainly true.
Lord Greaves (LD)
My Lords, there is a dispute among scientists about glyphosate. As I think the noble Countess alluded to, the International Agency for Research on Cancer last year said that products containing glyphosate are “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Is it the case, as is being alleged, that some of the research that the European food standards agency is relying on has not been published or peer-reviewed? Should not such research studies and reports be in the public domain so that all those who are experts can look at them and assess them?
Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
UK experts certainly participated in the EFSA’s detailed review of the health data. The EFSA concluded that,
“glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic hazard”.
and we agree with that conclusion. A wealth of studies is taking place. There have been huge studies in America and studies in various places in the world. From all these studies, the majority of experts concluded that there was very little evidence for an association between glyphosate-based formulations and cancer.