Medical Experts Label Dow Crop Chemical Possible Carcinogen

For Immediate Release
June 22, 2015   

Medical Experts Label Dow Crop Chemical Possible Carcinogen

WASHINGTON- Yesterday’s action by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to label the chemical 2,4-D a possible human carcinogen means that both active ingredients in Dow AgroSciences’ Enlist Duo herbicide for GMO crops are human cancer risks.

Last March, the influential cancer research body, an arm of the World Health Organization, designated glyphosate, the other active ingredient in Enlist Duo, as a possible carcinogen.  Despite scientists’ warnings, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted Dow AgroSciences permission to market Enlist Duo to farmers in 15 states. The product claims to kill so-called “superweeds” that have evolved to survive glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, frequently used around GMO crops.

“The EPA’s decision means that millions of Americans will be exposed to herbicides with known human health hazards in coming years,” said Gary Hirshberg, chairman of the Just Label It campaign and chairman and co-founder of Stonyfield Farm. “Unless GMO products are labeled, consumers have no way to know if ingredients in the food they buy were grown in a way that promoted use of these herbicides.”

As the dangers of herbicides used to produce GMO crops have come to light, consumers and advocates have intensified their demands for mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. A recent Just Label It poll done by the Mellman group found that nearly 90 percent of Americans – regardless of political affiliation, age, gender or education – supported federal GMO labeling.

“The use of herbicides on GMO crops has skyrocketed with the emergence of superweeds that are resistant to old formulations,” Hirshberg said. “When weeds stop responding to Enlist Duo, what will be the next chemical concoction that Dow and Monsanto come up with to spray on GMOs? No matter what it is, people have a right to know when GMOs are in their food.”