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Nov. 25, 2025 Agri-Pulse reports: Washington, DC -- The International Agency for Research on Cancer's classification of commonly used weedkiller atrazine as "probably carcinogenic to humans" prompted a quick response from the herbicide's supporters and critics. Atrazine manufacturer Syngenta says IARC's "mandate [is] to determine if a substance could cause cancer from a potential hazard perspective. In fact, IARC - which is not a regulatory agency - does not determine the likelihood of cancer occurring at realistic levels of exposure (technically called "risk")." Syngenta says "close to 50 regulatory authorities and scientific expert bodies worldwide ... have concluded that atrazine does not pose any carcinogenic risk and is safe when used in accordance with the registered label instructions." IARC, which is part of the World Health Organization, previously classified the weedkiller glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. Bayer, which manufactures glyphosate, says that finding is not supported by government regulatory agencies but has been used to support thousands of lawsuits against the company. IARC says its classification rests in part on combinations of "limited evidence for cancer in humans and sufficient evidence for cancer in experimental animals." IARC also says "positive associations have been observed for non-Hodgkin lymphoma that is positive for the chromosomal translocation." The Center for Biological Diversity said the classification "was determined by a working group of 22 expert cancer researchers from 12 different countries. The researchers identified evidence from human epidemiological studies, animal studies, and laboratory assessments of whether atrazine exhibits key characteristics of a carcinogen, like DNA damage and oxidative stress." "It is outrageously irresponsible that we still allow use of this dangerous poison in the United States," said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Tweet |
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