EPA Probe Examines Evidence of Monsanto-EPA Collusion
As public awareness about the dangers of Monsanto’s Roundup® herbicide grow, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins Jr. is carrying out a new probe into collusion between EPA employees and Monsanto. This probe follows the release of unsealed internal Monsanto emails as part of the litigation against Monsanto seeking to hold the company accountable for the carcinogenicity of Roundup®. The Miller Firm is co-lead counsel in this consolidated litigation on behalf of victims who have developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the United States.
In March 2017, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) called for an investigation into coordinated efforts between Monsanto and Jess Rowland, a former high-ranking EPA official, to spin research and hide scientific findings relating to glyphosate, a principal ingredient in Roundup®. Rowland is mentioned in the unsealed documents as the EPA employee who could shut down an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry review of glyphosate, and who said, “If I can kill this I should get a medal.”
In March 2015, The International Agency for Research on Cancer, (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) concluded that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen. Since that time, the agency has faced aggressive criticism from the community linked to the makers of this highly profitable product. IARC Director Christopher Wild told Politico he was reminded of the attacks IARC underwent from tobacco companies in the early 2000s, when it reported that secondhand smoke was carcinogenic (politico.eu).
While the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded glyphosate was non-carcinogenic, members of the EU Parliament asked Christopher Portier, former associate director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, to review the proprietary data they used in their assessment. He found eight instances of tumors the EFSA had not included in its decision.
FDA Resumes Glyphosate Testing in Food
In related news, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has resumed its evaluation of how much glyphosate is present in the U.S. food supply. The agency has 
been criticized in the past for failing to include this chemical in its annual testing and for suspending the first round of testing in November 2016. As Carey Gilliam reports with U.S. Right to Know, “Many observers suspected the suspension might be politically motivated because it came after one FDA chemist found glyphosate in several samples of U.S. honey and oatmeal products, including baby food,” (usrtk.org). She also explains that in 1998, during the re-evaluation of safe glyphosate levels, Rowland supported the EPA dropping a Food Quality Protection Act safety margin designed to protect children. This move aided Monsanto in gaining approval of expanded tolerance levels for glyphosate residues. Over time, legal glyphosate levels have risen as glyphosate use has risen.
The Miller Firm is presently accepting clients who developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after exposure to Roundup®. If this has happened to you, please visit our Roundup Lawsuit page to request a free consultation. We also invite you to call the Miller Firm at 1-800-882-2525.