Lawsuits alleging that Roundup, a popular weed killer, is more dangerous than its manufacturer claimed emerged when the product’s active ingredient, glyphosate, was found to be a possible carcinogen that causes non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) as well as various subtypes of the cancer.
Garces, Grabler, & LeBrocq advocates for individuals who have been harmed by exposure to potentially toxic substances like Roundup. Please contact us if you believe you or a loved one has been exposed to Roundup or its active compound glyphosate for a completely free and confidential consultation to discuss if you have a potential case.
What You Need to Know About the Risks of Roundup
We want you to understand your rights, the risks you are facing when exposed to potentially toxic substances, and your medical options, so here are the most important pieces of information you need to know in 2023 about Roundup and cancer:
Why is Roundup potentially dangerous?
Glyphosate, Roundup’s active ingredient, has been linked to certain types of cancer. A 2019 study found a "compelling link" between exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides and increased risk for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Most non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma cases involve mature B-cell lymphomas. B-cell lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that attacks a specialized white blood cell called a B-cell. This type of cancer makes up 85-90% of all NHL cases.
NHL is the most common type of cancer associated with exposure to Roundup, but it’s not the only one. There is a lengthy list of cancers and other conditions potentially linked to Roundup exposure, including various other types of lymphoma and hairy cell leukemia.
While the connection between Roundup and glyphosate and cancer has still not been definitively established by scientists, leading health institutions believe the probable connection is strong enough to advise caution. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, has said that Roundup is a “probable human carcinogen.”
Who is at risk?
Roundup is the most used herbicide in the world. Hundreds of millions of pounds of the chemical are used every year in both professional and private settings, but certain professions and types of activities put people at greater risk. Jobs that deal with vegetation are more likely to encounter herbicides, and most individuals that have been negatively impacted by exposure to Roundup work in gardening, landscaping, farming, groundskeeping, plant nurseries, and other occupations that routinely involve working with plants and the various chemical products used to care for them.
That said, you don’t have to be directly exposed to Roundup to be harmed by it. People who work with vegetation may be at the highest risk of developing a disease connected to Roundup, but affected individuals have also successfully pursued claims due to exposure and usage that occurred at home.
Even if you don’t work with Roundup directly or use it at home, you can still be exposed to it from commercial spraying. As the most popular herbicide in the world, Roundup is used quite liberally in many places, including on some farm operations that routinely and indiscriminately spray it over their crops. Nearby populations may be unwittingly inhaling aerosolized glyphosate.
Roundup is even in our food and water. Studies have found that as much as 60% of our food and 75% of our air and water have trace amounts of glyphosate. Crops that were never directly treated with Roundup are often found with traces of it on them.
Know Your Rights
Multiple jury verdicts, with awards in the hundreds of millions and billions of dollars, have come back in favor of parties injured by Roundup. Juries have found that Bayer/Monsanto, the multinational corporation that owns the Roundup brand, failed to protect consumers from their dangerous product or adequately warn them of its risks.
Most Roundup lawsuits, however, are settled out of court (80%). Bayer/Monsanto is very invested in keeping bad headlines about their popular product out of the news and hence has opted to proactively settle most claims about it.