Glyphosate: Villain or Scapegoat?

Glyphosate may just be the most polarizing chemical in modern agriculture, if not modern society. Since the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified it in 2015 as a “probable human carcinogen,” glyphosate has become a fixture of courtroom battles, consumer anxiety, and political debate. Juries have awarded multi-billion-dollar verdicts against its manufacturer, Monsanto, acquired by Bayer in 2018. Several countries have banned its use, often to reverse the ban shortly after, as in Mexico, Germany, and Sri Lanka. And activists have successfully forced regulatory agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, to revisit their assessments of the chemical’s safety.