Monsanto’s Roundup contains ten times more glyphosate toxicity than the company claims, according to testimony by a toxicologist at trial last month.

Dr. William Sawyer testified in front of California jurors. Monsanto has claimed that less than one percent of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and Ranger Pro herbicides, can be absorbed through the skin. Dr. Sawyer said ten percent absorbs into the body through the skin, causing problems with glyphosate toxicity. 

The toxicologist’s testimony was given in the first lawsuit that has gone to trial regarding allegations Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Dewayne J. filed suit alleging Monsanto has known its Roundup herbicides cause lymphoma since at least the 1990s, but has allegedly disregarded evidence. Earlier this month, the trial ended in a $289 million Roundup cancer jury award.

Dewayne claimed he used Roundup products when he worked as a groundskeeper for a school district. Dewayne testified that he remembered taking a course on pesticide and herbicide work and that the instructor had said Ranger Pro was “safe enough to drink.”

Not long after taking that herbicide workshop, Dewayne said a broken sprayer soaked him with Ranger Pro. At the time, he said he was wearing a Tyvek bodysuit on top of his clothing, but the herbicide still soaked through to his skin.

After his dunk in Ranger Pro, Dewayne said he felt a lump on the back of his leg. Other lumps formed on his legs, arms, chest, face, and hands. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Dewayne said he kept using the Ranger Pro products because he didn’t link his diagnosis with glyphosate toxicity.

He allegedly ended up enduring another Ranger Pro mishap that left his back exposed to further glyphosate toxicity.

Dr. Sawyer said Dewayne’s exposures to the herbicides were much greater than any done in research. He also said the Tyvek suit only protects from dust, not from liquid products such as the sprayable herbicides.

Dr. Sawyer also pointed out that Roundup and Ranger Pro products contain the surfactant POEA, which has been banned in Europe. POEA purportedly helps the glyphosate absorb into the leaves, or in the case of humans, the skin.

Glyphosate Toxicity Higher When Mixed

Monsanto lists POEA as an inert ingredient, but studies allege POEA increases glyphosate toxicity.

Julie Marc published a study in 2002 that showed Roundup interrupted cell cycles in sea urchins. When the identical dose of glyphosate alone was given to sea urchins, no cell cycles were interrupted. Francisco Peixoto followed with a study in 2005 that indicated Roundup’s formulation was more toxic and harmful to rat livers than glyphosate was by itself.

Both Marc’s and Peixoto’s studies are mentioned in multiple lawsuits alleging that glyphosate toxicity caused non-Hodgkins lymphoma or other cancers.

In 1985, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxicology Branch classified glyphosate as a Category C oncogene, which means they found “limited evidence of carcinogenicity.” In 2015, the World Health Organization determined that glyphosate is a “probable carcinogen” in both humans and animals.

The Glyphosate Toxicity Lawsuit is Case No. CGC16550128, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Francisco.

If you or a loved one developed cancer after using Roundup as a farm worker or home gardener, you may have a legal claim. Legal migrant farm workers may also seek help. Learn more by filling out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.

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