Did Roundup cause my cancer? These sufferers think it is to blame

Did Roundup cause my cancer? Germany has banned it, France and the Netherlands restrict its use – and these sufferers are convinced it is to blame

One day last summer, Nigel Clayson, a 52-year-old farm manager from North Essex, noticed a small lump in his armpit. But it was no bigger than a pea and causing him no pain, so he did nothing about it, hoping it would disappear as suddenly as it had arrived. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

‘After three or four months, it had grown as big as a golf ball, so I went to the doctor,’ says Nigel.

His GP initially suspected an infected lymph node — these are small bean-shaped pieces of tissue that make up part of the immune system, which are found, among other places, under the arms.

But when blood tests showed no obvious sign of infection, Nigel’s GP referred him to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for more thorough checks.

Nigel had a CT scan (which takes a series of X-rays to create a 3D picture) and a PET scan (where a mildly radio-active drug is injected into the bloodstream to show areas where cells are more active than normal — a potential sign of cancer).

Nigel Clayson, 52, (pictured) is a farm manager who has been treated for the blood cancer non Hodgkin’s lymphoma which is associated with the weedkiller glyphosate

Regulations for the use of the weedkiller glyphosate vary around the world

‘I was immediately told it was cancer,’ he says. ‘It turned out I had another three malignant lumps inside me — in my neck, right hip and near my spine, which I didn’t even know about. It was non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer.

‘I was shocked rather than scared because I had absolutely no idea there was something so seriously wrong with me — I felt perfectly fit and healthy.’

At this point, Nigel could have been forgiven for cursing his luck and attributing his diagnosis to nothing more than the random nature of cancer. But then he discovered something troubling.

Two other local agricultural workers he knew through farming circles had recently been given exactly the same diagnosis.

One was a farm labourer who was just 23 when he became ill, the other a contractor in his 50s, employed to dispose of empty weedkiller cans used on farms. Both had been treated and, thankfully, were in remission.

But what all three men had in common was regular exposure to glyphosate, a potent weedkiller used in industrial quantities on Britain’s farms, as well as by local councils and highway authorities to kill weeds in parks, playgrounds and roadside verges.

Glyphosate has also been available to amateur gardeners in garden centres across the UK, under the brand name Roundup.

‘I have generally used glyphosate on the farm at least twice a year; first when I’m putting seed in the ground in September time and then again in the spring as a weedkiller,’ says Nigel, who lives with his partner Jane, 57.

‘We don’t have much choice about whether to use glyphosate: anything else that works costs about 15 times more,’ he says.

‘I do now use protective clothing when I’m spraying it, but when I was younger I admit I might not have been as careful.’

Richard Tyler, pictured with his wife Kelly and daughter Mia, is convinced that exposure to glyphosate was the cause of his mantle cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer he was diagnosed with 18 months ago

Of course, there’s no conclusive proof that the weedkiller was to blame for any of the cancer cases. But in 2015, following a review of around 1,000 research studies, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) — which assesses the likely cancer risk of everything from working nights to using mobile phones — declared glyphosate was ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’, with a ‘probable risk’ of causing cancer, particularly blood cancers [such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma] by ‘causing DNA and chromosomal damage in cells’.

Now, a series of new studies have raised further concerns about the weedkiller’s safety.

Last month, researchers at En Chu Kong Hospital in Taiwan published findings in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research International showing exposure to glyphosate damages red blood cells — causing anaemia, a condition that leads to fatigue, rapid heart rate and dizziness. A separate report, meanwhile, revealed that, once the weedkiller has got into the body, it can cause vascular toxicity — i.e. damage to blood vessels, especially those around the heart.

Experts at East China University of Science and Technology, writing in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, warned: ‘These findings highlight the need for concern about the cardiovascular risk in occupations which are exposed to glyphosate.’

Female fertility may also be at risk, according to animal research by the Community University of Chapeco Region in Brazil.

Scientists studied rats exposed to varying levels of Roundup every day for 28 days and found it disrupted the balance of fertility-related hormones and had a potentially damaging effect on the ovaries, to the point where it could affect the chances of conceiving. But because, as part of the test, the rats had increasingly large doses of glyphosate added to their drinking water, this meant they were exposed to much higher levels than humans would be from using weedkiller.

What the men had in common was regular exposure to glyphosate, a potent weedkiller used in industrial quantities on Britain’s farms, as well as by local councils and highway authorities to kill weeds in parks, playgrounds and roadside verges

The use of glyphosate is, however, now restricted in a wide range of countries — including France, Germany, Portugal and Spain (see box, right) — although it remains on sale in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs told Good Health: ‘The approval of glyphosate is subject to regular review and we continue to keep an active watch on the science.

‘Strict regulation only permits the sale and use [of pesticides and herbicides] where scientific assessment shows they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment.’ Glyphosate was developed in the 1970s by the U.S. chemical giant Monsanto as a uniquely deadly solution to weeds.

The company then developed genetically modified crops that could resist glyphosate’s capacity to destroy their cell structure.

This meant that fields could be cleared of weeds while crops were left standing.

READ MORE: Weedkiller ingredient used in notorious cancer-causing Roundup is found in 80% of US urine samples

In 2018, Monsanto sold its glyphosate business to the German chemicals giant Bayer. Such is the demand for ever higher crop yields, the deal was still worthwhile to Bayer, even though in June 2020 it agreed to pay out a record-breaking £8 billion to settle lawsuits from more than 100,000 Americans — mainly amateur gardeners, who believe their non-Hodgkin lymphoma or other forms of blood cancer stem from Roundup use.

Bayer denied any wrongdoing, with the CEO saying the settlement was to ‘bring a long period of uncertainty to an end’. A Bayer spokesman told Good Health: ‘Glyphosate-based products have been used safely and successfully for more than 40 years.’

It is, however, one of the largest single payouts of its kind, with a further 30,000 U.S. claims still going through the legal process.

There are around 60 types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells which form a vital part of the immune system.

The cancer leads to excessive production of white blood cells, causing them to clump into lumps. Although around seven out of ten people diagnosed with blood cancers are alive five years later, 16,000 a year in the UK die as a result.

The number of blood cancer cases is rising with around 14,200 new non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases a year, up 38 per cent since the early 1990s, according to Cancer Research UK. It says the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma is 26 per cent higher in people who have ever worked as a ‘field crop/vegetable farm worker’ and 19 per cent higher in those who have worked as a general farm worker.

However, the charity also says that using glyphosate at low levels does not increase the risk of cancer: ‘This includes using it as a weedkiller in the garden.’

But not all experts agree. Michael Antoniou, a molecular geneticist at King’s College London, believes glyphosate is dangerous — even at very low levels of exposure.

‘There are many ways by which it causes damage,’ he told Good Health. ‘It disrupts and attacks the functioning of multiple mechanisms and causes DNA damage, which is the major known risk factor for cancer.

‘Studies from around the world have shown that glyphosate can cause adverse effects at very low levels of long-term exposure.

One day last summer, Mr Clayson noticed a small lump in his armpit. His GP initially suspected an infected lymph node

‘If there’s one thing that the world is facing that’s worse than the Covid pandemic, it’s the cancer pandemic. One in two people will develop it sometime during their lives and we ought to be looking at toxins like this.’

He adds: ‘The regulators that claim glyphosate is safe have got it all wrong. They should be taking into account the latest evidence from independent academic groups, such as ours. When they do, they’ll find their recommended safe levels are way out. We don’t even know what a safe level is.’

Gemma Trout, a support nurse at the charity Blood Cancer UK, says that for a number of years there has been concern about a ‘potential link between glyphosate and an increased risk of lymphoma’ — ‘people who want to take a precautionary approach should avoid using it’.

The controversy deepened last month with newly published government figures on increased glyphosate use in Britain, highlighted by the charity Pesticide Action Network. These show that annual use of the product has risen from 2.2 million kilos in 2016 to 2.6 million kilos in 2020. There has also been a 9 per cent increase in the area of UK land treated with glyphosate — from 2,646,836 hectares in 2016 to 2,876,906 hectares in 2020.

Josie Cohen, a spokeswoman for Pesticide Action Network, said around 50 local councils have banned glyphosate use on public land and a further 40 are in the process of cutting down, though many more continue to use it.

‘The links between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma are clear,’ she argues, ‘and yet we continue to use this chemical in ever-increasing amounts in farming as well as in most of our towns and cities, where it not only poses a potential risk to human health but also to water quality and wildlife.

‘It’s time the Government made good on its promises to help farmers and other land managers transition to safer and more sustainable non-chemical alternatives, and introduced a strong package of support for them,’ she says.

Nigel says glyphosate is regularly used to ripen wheat artificially, killing and drying it off so it can be efficiently harvested. ‘I have never done that because I’m happy to wait for the sun to do its work, but I know they do it on huge estates of 12,000 acres where they want to get the contractors in to harvest everything in one go,’ says Nigel, who now manages a 1,200-acre arable farm at Takeley, near Stansted, Essex, but has managed similar farms in East Anglia for more than 20 years.

David Exwood, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union, defended glyphosate’s use.

He told Good Health glyphosate was ‘an essential product to control weeds before planting’, and a ‘vital component’ of modern crop-growing practices.

‘Farmers and growers will continue to use glyphosate as long as it is legal to do so to ensure environmental sustainability and a secure supply of high-quality and affordable food,’ he says.

Nigel’s partner Jane, who has lived on and around farms all her life and has observed how glyphosate continues to be used liberally, says: ‘They call it sunshine in a can. Farms are meant to wait seven days between spraying with glyphosate and harvesting the wheat but no one checks and lots of farms don’t bother.’

Pesticide Action Network claims glyphosate is found as a residue on ‘many’ of the food products we eat — a 2015 review of studies for the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Germany concluded that glyphosate has regularly been found in human urine samples and that may be related to people’s diets and their occupations (levels were higher for the latter), but it concluded that levels were of ‘no health concern’.

Here, the Health and Safety Executive says eating foods that have a residue level within the strict limits that it sets for food crops will ‘not cause harm to consumers’. It adds: ‘If a food has a higher level of residue than the maximum, it does not automatically mean it’s not safe to eat.’

Furthermore, last month, the European Food Safety Authority said its investigations had found ‘no critical areas of concern’ for health from the use of glyphosate in agriculture.

Yet glyphosate is being withdrawn from products sold to amateur gardeners throughout the U.S., while Evergreen Garden Care, the UK company that sells it to consumers, promotes a glyphosate-free version of Roundup in garden centres. ‘Most garden centres take both products, but some have opted to only stock glyphosate-free products in a movement towards exiting glyphosate,’ a spokesman told Good Health.

Indeed Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose and the Co-op have stopped selling it. Garden centres are following suit. Notcutts, which runs a chain in southern England, told Good Health: ‘We removed all products containing glyphosate at the end of December 2022.’

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), said it ‘is concerned about the potential unintended effects of pesticides and herbicides on humans, animals and plant life.

‘The RHS does not encourage the use of weedkillers, including glyphosate, and recommends that wherever possible alternative control methods are used.’

Richard Tyler, 52, a former actor from Surbiton, Surrey, is convinced that exposure to glyphosate was the cause of his mantle cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer he was diagnosed with 18 months ago.

‘Roundup is the only weedkiller I’ve used since I moved to this house with my wife and daughter six years ago,’ he says.

‘I stopped using it when I became unwell — not because I knew at that stage there was a risk attached to it, but because I was too ill to do anything in the garden,’ says Richard, who is currently in remission after a course of chemotherapy.

‘Who knows how much glyphosate I’ve been exposed to, but I definitely think there is a link between it and my cancer.

‘When I was growing up in Buckinghamshire, the biggest enthusiasm in my dad’s life was his garden. If any weed dared to appear he would be out there with his Roundup pump. He was a serious user.’

Richard’s cancer diagnosis followed months of recurrent urinary tract infections, gut issues and bloating. He also had night sweats and lost a lot of weight.

‘I just thought I was at last suddenly getting a perfect body in middle age but it turned out to be this,’ says Richard.

‘We are all exposed to glyphosate at many levels, but we don’t know it. I have only known about the risk for the past 18 months because of living with this rare lymphoma.’

Nigel was told his lymphoma was progressing slowly enough for him to wait until the end of the harvest last summer to start chemotherapy and he had the treatment between November and April.

Now in remission, Nigel is due a check-up next April. He is trying to put it out of his mind: ‘I can’t panic, this is my work,’ he says.

‘I use about 15 different chemicals on the fields. What happens next is completely out of my hands.

‘My cancer specialist said he didn’t think the cancer was linked to glyphosate. There were two 17- and 18-year-old girls with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the waiting room and he said they wouldn’t have been exposed to it at all, though my argument is that if they had come from the middle of London, where all the parks are sprayed with it, then they would definitely have. On farms we have to put signs out if there is a footpath going across the field, saying that the field has been sprayed with a pesticide, but we don’t have to say which one it is.

‘Local authorities don’t have to do that and they’re using glyphosate around every lamp-post and close to where people walk.’

Despite the multi-billion-pound compensation payout in the U.S., Bayer maintains its stance on the safety of its product, telling Good Health: ‘To further reduce future litigation risk in the U.S., we are replacing our glyphosate products in the U.S. residential market with new formulations that have alternative active ingredients.

‘We are taking this action exclusively to help manage litigation risk in the U.S. and not because of any safety concerns. Glyphosate-based products have been used safely and successfully for more than 40 years.

‘Leading health regulators around the world continue to conclude that glyphosate-based products are safe when used as directed.’

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