Scientists call for new review of cancer causing herbicide

US regulators have relied on flawed and outdated research to allow expanded use of an herbicide linked to cancer, and new assessments should be urgently conducted, according to a column published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

There are two key factors that necessitate regulatory action to protect human health, according to the column: a sharp increase in herbicide applied to widely planted genetically modified (GMO) crops used in food, and a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) determination that the most commonly used herbicide, known as glyphosate, is probably a human carcinogen.