ISLAMABAD: Environmentalists have sounded an alarm in Pakistan following a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that the world’s most widely used Roundup herbicide to kill weeds “probably” causes cancer.

“It is a warning for countries like Pakistan where growers of genetically modified (GM) crops are being encouraged to use Roundup,” a researcher at the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) observed.

Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate, that kills major weeds, is identified as carcinogenic. Sri Lanka and several other countries banned the herbicide after more than 20,000 deaths from kidney failures were linked to it, according to the researcher.

Brazil and El Salvador did same in Latin America. In fact the latter country also banned 52 other pesticides in 2013.

Farmers of genetically engineered corn in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been using Roundup since 2009.

However, the multinational company Monsanto, which has been promoting GM agriculture in Pakistan since 1998, and markets Roundup, contested the WHO report.

“It has been in the market for 40 years and its usage is thoroughly regulated,” said its head in Pakistan, Amir M. Mirza.

“We are contesting the report because the WHO did not take sufficient data into account.” His regulatory affairs officer Muhammad Asim told Dawn that WHO had re-classified five ingredients that possibly cause cancer in humans.

“Roundup is being used in more than 160 countries and there are 800 plus studies done on it. WHO, which is not a regulatory body, has not taken into account the scientific data that supports its usage,” he said.

In its report, WHO’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), classified the active ingredient glyphosate in the herbicide as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.

After its spray, the weed killer has been detected in food, water and in the air, says the report. WHO based its conclusion on the studies of exposure, mostly agricultural, in the US, Canada, and Sweden published since 2001.

However, after weeds started developing resistance to the spray, the US Environment Protection Agency permitted, in 2013, increased quantity of glyphosate in the herbicide.

Around the world, more than 30 major weeds have developed resistance against glyphosate. The International Survey of Herbicide-Resistant Weeds shows the phenomenon started in 1996 following the introduction of genetically engineered crops in the world.

Monsanto brought GM corn to Pakistan and has been pushing to introduce GM cotton called Bt cotton.

WHO’s report about the herbicide has also alerted Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA).

Its director general, Dr Muhammad Khurshid, said that several bio-tech seed companies have applied for clearance of their GMO seed for commercial use. “Luckily we have not given permission to any for wide-scale usage,” he told Dawn.

Since Pakistan lacks capacity to conduct sophisticated research in this field, he said the Pak-EPA would be guided by the WHO Report in its actions, like suggesting changes in the country’s law to regulate usage of dangerous pesticides.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2015

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