Glyphosate:for now the renewal of the permit has not passed, but Italy votes yes

Italy has given a favorable opinion to the European Commission's proposal to extend the use of the herbicide glyphosate for another 10 years.However, overall, a majority was not reached necessary for the green light.The contrary position of Austria, Croatia and Luxembourg weighed heavily, as did the abstention of Germany, France, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Malta.The extension of the authorization of the debated pesticide it has therefore been averted for now.For now.EU states will in fact be invited to vote on the appeal again in November.In this circumstance, the EU executive may modify the proposal, but if the qualified majority is not reached, it will be up to the European Commission to decide autonomously.

The request for extension was made by a group of European chemical multinationals with strong commercial interests against the most used herbicide in the world, such as Bayer, Syngenta and Nufarm.Request which was then accepted and formalized by the EU Commission on the basis of a recent opinion in favor of the substance by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).Last July, while admitting that it had not been able to adequately assess the risks for consumers and biodiversity, it assured that the use of the substance does not raise "critical concerns".Yet, among other things, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified the disputed active ingredient as “probable carcinogen” for humans.A controversial decision, therefore, but not unexpected considering the decades-long interference of the companies producing the substance in question.In any case, what is disconcerting is that EFSA has given yet another favorable opinion on the renewal of the authorization without it having been possible to definitively resolve key issues, such as the food risk for consumers and the impact on biodiversity .In this regard, according to the agency itself, there would be no harmonized assessment methodologies and the available information would be lacking.

Meanwhile, in France, sixteen-year-old Théo Grataloup he got a lifetime compensation for malformations induced by exposure to the herbicide.The boy's mother, when she was pregnant with him, managed a riding stable of 700 square meters of sandy area which was periodically weeded using a glyphosate-based product.Théo, in 2006, was born suffering from a poly-malformation of the trachea, larynx and esophagus.In 2022, experts from the Fund for Compensation for Pesticide Victims recognized "the possible causal link between the pathology that emerged and exposure to pesticides during the prenatal period due to the professional activity of one or two parents".The decision was made by a group of five doctors and researchers from universities and public bodies, specialized in the health effects of agrochemicals, in correlations between health and the environment and in congenital malformations.It would be the first case of compensation recognized for this reason.«At a global level, there have been trials won in the United States due to problems of tumor onset, but for malformations, according to my knowledge, it is the first time this has happened», explained the young man's mother.

Overall, the evidence of the impact of glyphosate on human health, as numerous also certify studies independent scientists, they are multiplying from year to year.Nonetheless, the EU appears determined to renew the use of the pesticide which, among other things, has equally alarming ecological effects.

[by Simone Valeri]