Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a broad-spectrum herbicide and it is getting more and more attention due to its carcinogenicity. Which is actually not even proved. The questions are clear: is it dangerous? And even if it is not, should we ban it just to be sure?
First of all, you need to know the principle. The principle of glyphosate action is that it causes inhibition of enzyme EPSP and then it blocks the shikimate pathway. The interesting thing about this is, that humans nor animals have not the shikimate pathway in their bodies. This is the reason why plants are dying after a glyphosate application and we are not.
IARC (International agency research for cancer) classifies glyphosate as a potential carcinogen for human health (class 2A). Sounds terrible? Well, together with glyphosate there are classified e.g. drinking hot drinks with temperature >65 °C, red meat, or working on shifts. Of course, there are also worse things. But the problem is - in the class 2A, the only assumption substance needs to fulfill is to prove causality between the exposition and the effect on an organism.
So there is a chance it is a carcinogen, but maybe it is just a statistical deviation. But there are other forms of toxicity than carcinogenicity (does anybody realize that?). For example, in mammals, it can cause arrhythmia. It is also toxic to livers and kidneys.
There is an environmental rule called „precautionary principle“ – if something may be dangerous, we can stop using it or we can replace it. Some "environmental organizations" are pushing the society to use the other options, like hot water for replacing knapweed. It sounds good because water itself is not toxic and it cannot be a carcinogen. But when the hot water is applied on land, logically, it boils all organisms – even so-called edaphon – animals living in soil (insect, microorganisms, mushrooms), which are important in soil quality and sustainability.
It can seem to be absurd, but in some conditions, the water can cause big harm to nature. For example, when Exxon degradable there. They have held the oil at the ocean by showering the shores by hot water in some places. After several years, the shores which were showered reported smaller biodiversity than the shores which were contaminated by the oil. But of course, there are some good options to lower the consumption of glyphosate, for example, mechanical work.
Glyphosate is also used by farmers to dry grain. From a perspective of time, it is far better than the sunlight. And also from a perspective of toxicity. Surprising? If we dry grain naturally, it is not uniform, and there are staying some wet places and rot is starting to grow. Could be rot safer than glyphosate? It is natural, and most people thing that if something is natural, it is also healthy. But they are wrong in this case. For example, aflatoxins are poisonous carcinogens, which we receive from food like wheat, rice or nuts. It causes liver damage and liver cancer. Aflatoxins are, actually, among the most carcinogenic substances known to man. Unfortunately, my country recently banned glyphosate exactly for the use of drying grain. Probably because of pressure from the citizens, which panic a lot.
I do not blame them. Few months ago, I saw a facebook status about glyphosate. It was written by Czech Green Party. They claimed that glyphosate is a carcinogen which we breathe every single day in our lives! Well, maybe that farmers breath its aerosol during the application, but in normal condition, glyphosate is not a gas. Its boiling point is 187 °C and the problem is glyphosate in the water or food, not in the air.
So I blame this politician party and other organizations, which products panic and fear, which does not hepling at all.
Conclusion: People should panic less and politics should do some basic research before releasing shocking news. Prevention can sometimes cause more damage than good. And there is an unknown reason why people panic so much because of carcinogenicity and they stay cool when we talk about nephrotoxicity or liver damage. Are you one of those people? I would like to hear why is that.