Dear
Edward
Analysis of official government
data –
launched today
by PAN UK –
reveals that
the amount of
glyphosate
being applied
to UK crops
has risen from
200 metric
tonnes per
year in 1990
to more than
2,200 tonnes
in 2024.
Glyphosate
– often known
by its most
common brand
name, Roundup
– has been the
cause of
controversy
for many years
due to the
ever-growing
body of
evidence that
it has the
potential to
cause
irreversible
harms to both
human health
and the
environment.
In the US, it
has been the
subject of a
spate of court
cases which
has seen the
manufacturer
pay out $11
billion to
cancer-sufferers
who claim that
the herbicide
caused their
non-Hodgkin
lymphoma or
related
cancers.
The
chemical has
also been
shown to have
wide-ranging
negative
environmental
impacts, from
contaminating
water to
directly
and indirectly
harming a
range of
wildlife
including
amphibians,
bees, and
other
pollinators.
In 2023,
the EU banned
the use of
glyphosate in
pre-harvest
desiccation, a
practice which
involves
dousing a crop
in chemicals
just before
harvest to dry
it out.
However,
the UK
continues to
allow
glyphosate to
be used in
this way,
despite it
often leading
to high
residue levels
in food.
Read more on the ways in which glyphosate use has
increased, as
well as the
upcoming
glyphosate
license
renewal due in
December, by clicking here.
