Repercussões na Austrália da decisão judicial nos EUA contra a Monsanto, no caso do Glifosato
USA: Verdict on Monsanto has Australian implications
A California jury has found Monsanto guilty of concealing the dangers of glyphosate, the world's most widely-applied herbicide, and awarded a terminally ill schools groundskeeper total damages of US$289 million (A$392.6 million). The unprecedented 10 August verdict delivered by the jury in favour of Dewayne Johnson, 46, will affect the more than 4,000 similar cases already lodged in the US alleging a glyphosate link to the blood cancer non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Monsanto has announced it will appeal.
Before Monsanto's acquisition by Bayer, the company had set aside US$258 million for litigation; Bayer had a fund of US$447 million. Based on the substantial number of internal company documents made public for the first time during the trial, the jury determined that Monsanto knew of the potential health risks associated with glyphosate exposure yet acted with "malice or oppression" in failing to warn the public. The company papers chronicle a protracted campaign by Monsanto to discredit independent research, capture regulatory bodies and defund the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which in 2016 determined glyphosate was probably carcinogenic to humans. Monsanto vice-president Scott Partridge denounced the verdict and attacked IARC as "corrupted" because they do "no testing, they do no analysis, they have no laboratories". However, global food and farm union IUF said this was the "same procedure followed by the regulatory agencies Monsanto consistently sought for decades to influence." Neale Pearce, a leading UK professor, has this week defended IARC (read more here)
In his trial testimony, Dewayne Johnson said: "I never would've sprayed that product on school grounds or around people if I knew it would cause them harm. It's unethical. It's wrong." Carey Gillam, research director of US Right to Know, commented: "Monsanto and its chemical industry allies have spent decades actively working to confuse and deceive consumers, farmers, regulators and lawmakers about the risks associated with glyphosate-based herbicides. As they've suppressed the risks, they've trumpeted the rewards and pushed use of this weed killer to historically high levels." She added: "The evidence that has come to light from Monsanto's own internal documents, combined with data and documents from regulatory agencies, could not be more clear: It is time for public officials across the globe to act to protect public health and not corporate profits."
Glyphosate is widely used in Australia, both as a domestic and commercial herbicide - for example, in Roundup. Workers need to check what they are using by asking for the SDSs. If any of the substances they are being asked to spray contain glyphosate, then they should request that these not be used.
Read more: IUF news release. Democracy Now. US Right to Know statement. The Monsanto Papers. The Guardian. Source: Risks 862
Complemento: US Right to Know statement.
Comment from Carey Gillam, Research Director of U.S. Right to Know and author of the award-winning book that details Monsanto’s manipulation of the science surrounding its herbicide products:
“Monsanto and its chemical industry allies have spent decades actively working to confuse and deceive consumers, farmers, regulators and lawmakers about the risks associated with glyphosate-based herbicides. As they’ve suppressed the risks, they’ve trumpeted the rewards and pushed use of this weed killer to historically high levels. The evidence that has come to light from Monsanto’s own internal documents, combined with data and documents from regulatory agencies, could not be more clear: It is time for public officials across the globe to act to protect public health and not corporate profits.”
Carey Gillam is a journalist and author, and winner of the Society of Environmental Journalists 2018 Rachel Carson Book Award. She also is a public interest researcher for US Right to Know, a not-for-profit food industry research group.
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