An assessment of the impact of glyphosate on the health of humans, animals and the environment did “not identify critical areas of concern”, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded.
Glyphosate is a chemical substance used in a number of herbicide products and its use in Europe is currently approved until December 15, 2023, according to the FSAI.
The risk assessment by four member states and the three-year peer review by the EFSA was carried out as part of the legal process to renew the approval of its use in Europe.
Risk assessment of Glyphosate
The FSAI notes that a concern is defined as “critical” when it affects all proposed uses of the active substance under evaluation such as pre-sowing and post-harvest uses, thus preventing its approval or renewal.
However, some data gaps are reported in the EFSA’s conclusions for the European Commission and member states to consider in the next stage of the renewal of approval process, the EFSA said.
Issues that could not be finalised include the assessment of one of the impurities in glyphosate, the consumer dietary risk assessment, and the assessment of risks to aquatic plants.
In terms of biodiversity, the EFSAI said experts recognised that the risks associated with the representative uses of glyphosate are “complex and depend on multiple factors”.
Overall, the EFSAI said, the available information does “not allow firm conclusions” to be drawn on this aspect of the risk assessment and risk managers can consider mitigation measures.
“The data package allowed a conservative risk assessment approach, which identified a high long-term risk to mammals in 12 out of 23 proposed uses of glyphosate,” the EFSAI said.
Speaking after the announcement today (Thursday, July 6), the head of the EFSA’s Risk Assessment Production Department, Guilhem de Seze said:
“The risk assessment and peer review of glyphosate represents the work of dozens of scientists from EFSA and the member states in a process that has spanned over three years.
“It is based on an evaluation of many thousands of studies and scientific articles, and also incorporates valuable input gathered during the public consultation.”
The conclusions are expected to be published by the end of July 2023, and the background documents are expected to be published between the end of August and the middle of October 2023.
Criticism
The outcome of the EFSA’s risk assessment has been criticised by the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe, which claimed that the EU pesticide authorisation system is “deeply flawed”.
“Many studies prove that glyphosate is genotoxic, neurotoxic, damages the gut microbiome and causes serious damage to soil, aquatic life and biodiversity,” according to PAN Europe.
The EFSA’s advice is a “slap in the face of many independent scientists” who have published many scientific studies “showing the toxicity of glyphosate”, the organisation said.
Speaking after today’s announcement by the EFSA, the head of science and policy at PAN Europe, Angeliki Lysimachou said the “glyphosate scandal” continues.
“The positive response of EFSA to proceed despite acknowledged data gaps and shortcomings in glyphosate’s evaluation undermines public trust in European institutions,” she added.