Relevance: Mains: G.S paper II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health.
- German pharma company Bayer is facing thousands of lawsuits over one of its products.
- 42,700 plaintiffs in the US are blaming Bayer’s herbicides for their cancer, up from 18,400 plaintiffs in July this year.
- It should have warned of the alleged cancer risks.
What are these herbicides
- The herbicides are based on a compound called glyphosate. First developed in 1970, glyphosate is scientifically N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine under the IUPAC system of nomenclature. It is applied to the leaves of plants to kill weeds. It is widely used in India, too.
- According to a 2016 bulletin published by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the weedkiller in India goes by various brand names, including Roundup, Glycel, and Brake.
- Describing the herbicide’s reach in the country, it says, “Glyphosate was highly accepted by the tea planters in the past two decades.
- It has a very good market size in the tea sector of West Bengal and Assam.
- The consumption of glyphosate is highest in Maharashtra as it is becoming a key herbicide in sugarcane, maize and many fruit crops including mango, banana, grapes, pomegranate and citrus.”
Why it is a worry
- In 2015, the Word Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer published a study that found glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
- Activists have been campaignig against glyphosate-based products.
- France, Italy, and Vietnam banned the herbicide’s use after the IARC finding.