Page 23 - Tropic Magazine Issue 34

TROPIC • SPECIAL REPORT

Most household glyphosate product
labels make no mention of personal
protective equipment, however unions
and farming organisations in
Australia recommend …
What is glyphosate?

Eye protection A broad-spectrum herbicide, glyphosate inhibits an
enzyme found in plants. The same enzyme is not
in humans. There are around 500 products containing
A respirator with
replaceable filter glyphosate in Australia, including the most popular
brand, Roundup.

Water proof apron

PVC gloves

What do the health experts say?
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on
Overalls
Cancer (IARC), which is part of the World Health
Organisation, classified glyphosate as ‘probably
carcinogenic to humans’ based on ‘limited’ evidence of
cancer in humans and ‘sufficient’ evidence of cancer
in experimental animals. It said the probability of
developing a cancer is dependent on factors including
the type and extent of exposure and the strength of the
agent. It ruled out the possibility that the cancers could
Water proof boots have been caused by other chemicals in glyphosate
product formulations.
IARC also found ‘strong’ evidence for genotoxicity,
which refers to the ability of substances to damage
genetic information in cells. This can translate into a
variety of diseases, cancer included.

MORE: apvma.gov.au
Source: AWU/Kondinin Group

23 • tropicnow.com.au