Brussels, Belgium
23 June 2015
Today, the Lancet Oncology published conclusions from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that classified cancer hazards to humans of three active ingredients - 2,4-D, Lindane and DDT. As the global body representing the plant science industry, CropLife International has issued the following statement in response.
CropLife International President and CEO Howard Minigh said:
It is important to understand the difference between IARC's work, which only identifies the potential hazard of a product, and the work of the world's regulatory bodies. Regulators conduct risk assessments, taking into account hazard and exposure, to ensure that crop protection products are only approved for use when shown to be safe for humans and the environment.
IARC clarifies this distinction in its press release and in a Question and Answer document recently published on its website which states:
"The IARC Monographs Programme evaluates cancer hazards but not the risks associated with exposure."
IARC uses limited data to identify a potential hazard, not risk, associated with an active ingredient. This is in stark contrast to the world's most robust regulatory bodies - such as the European Union and the United States - where crop protection products have undergone extensive reviews based on multi-year testing to assess risk and risk management in real world conditions.
Calls for regulatory action based on IARC's hazard identification are therefore unfounded - risk assessments carried out by the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) and by major regulatory agencies around the world remain valid in the absence of any significant new information.
CropLife International has requested to meet with WHO Director General Dr. Margaret Chan and IARC Director Dr. Chris Wild to further discuss these issues and to better understand the process for selecting the products and the literature on which they base their classifications.
Human health and responsible use of crop protection products is and must always be our highest priority. As an industry we take pride in the extreme rigor by which we assess our products, our detailed submissions to regulators and the subsequent confidence this gives to crop protection product users and the public at large - we do not want to see this progress undermined.
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