lowa pushing bill protecting pesticide/herbicide manufacturers from lawsuits that would hold them accountable for their cancer-causing products

LaughingMan2Gig

5471

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https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/27/bill-limiting-lawsuits-agains-pesticide-makers-product-caused-cancer-nearing

The Iowa Senate passed the bill 26-21, with six Republicans voting against it.
The Senate passed the same bill last year, but it was halted in the House.
The Modern Ag Alliance, a coalition of over 90 agricultural stakeholders founded by Bayer, is backing Iowa's legislation and similar bills in other states.
Opponents of the bill say the it doesn't consider Iowa's high rates of cancer and farmers.

A tight Senate vote has pushed forward a bill to shield pesticide and herbicide manufacturers from lawsuits claiming they failed to warn users of potential health risks, including cancer, if their products' labeling complies with federal rules.

Senate lawmakers voted 26-21 Wednesday on Senate File 394, advancing it to the House for consideration. Six Republican Sens. Kevin Alons, R-Salix; Doug Campbell, R-Mason City; Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville; David Sires, R-Cedar Falls; Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center; and Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, voted against the bill.

The legislation passed in the Senate last year, 30-19, before stalling in the House.

The Republican-led legislation is part of a renewed nationwide push from the Modern Ag Alliance, a coalition of over 90 agricultural stakeholders, founded by agricultural chemical manufacturer Bayer, to pass several similar bills in other states.

Bayer manufactures glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup, which is at the center of the bill's discussion. The company's plant in Muscatine manufactures 70% of North America's Roundup.

Bayer manufactures glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular herbicide Roundup.

L1ttl3J1m

"Opponents of the bill say the it doesn't consider Iowa's high rates of cancer and farmers."

Oh, I'm very sure it does. Just not from the perspective of someone who's not a profit-obsessed psychopath.

1 year ago |

TheJuiceLoosener

https://www.lawsuit-information-center.com/roundup-lawsuit.html A fantastic site for tracking the progress of the litigation, writ large

onelostcat

Was driving through rural LA, AR, and OK last week, and kept hearing an obviously political ad in favor of glyphosate, as “trial lawyers” trying to attack and make a buck on poor farmers. Didn’t have a clue WTF they were talking about, but found myself agreeing with it. Evil, Greedy Trial Lawyers!!

mooseablethenok

Surprise, they are doing it in florida too.

MKUltraMega

Roundup gave my dad lymphoma. Guess who wants to fight with me online about how "the science doesn't add up!" (Hint: it's not lawyers)

gft8gd5khn101

Iowa is known as one of the states with the nations highest cancer rates

IceWeaselX

The irony of Republicans being anti-regulation is that they're actually very PRO-regulation. Like here, they are trying to create a regulation that disallows consequences.

"We don't want safety regulations. We want regulations on safety regulations. Don't stop the hazards. Stop punishing those that create the hazards."

Same as being "small government" yet insisting on bans for all manner of shit which would benefit people.

my1rstlaptopwas34inchscreenup

money can buy everything. and some fuckers in govt it seems. welcome to the oligarchy

BranDohCalrissian

That tracks. I mean we are clearly losing the war against corporations. We're just dollar signs and cannon fodder... But joke's on them, who will be left to spend money when we're all rotted away?

ToSisPoS

Foreign markets with even more corrupt governments

jackal12345

Give a large percentage of the population cancer and no legal recourse and there's really only one outcome

ElectricSpacePotatoes

the only problem is that gylphosate doesn't cause cancer. seriously, the papers and orgs that label it as carcinogenic are dubious at best. Unless something has come up in the last few years, im not aware of

Voting Republican to get the libs?

fatInIC

Ummm, no more cancer causing than anything else I every day life.

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/update-on-glyphosate/

jameshopkinsclay

A mixture of vinegar,salt and some dish detergent works really well.kills grass between the patio stones and you can spray it on climbing weeds like bindweed.

Thornaxe

Interestingly enough, the lethal dose on what you just described is actually less than that of glyphosate.

PahRinNay

I’ve been hearing ads on broadcast media about the “benefits” of this bullshit and I’m pretty sure there was *just* a f’in class action about this shit?! Makes ZERO sense except I guess profit > people and, oh yeah, the rule of law means NOTHING. Fml.

And the rules of evidence mean mostly nothing to jurors who want to play Robin Hood.

freshthrowaway1138

Well, it should be noted that it does have benefits in comparison to every other herbicide out there. Because nothing is actually safe, it's just safer. Unless you know of an herbicide that doesn't cause issues?

PoliticalWanderer

There are plenty of dumb reason to oppose GMOs, but easily the best and most valid one that I've heard of is that most GMOs are made with the main purpose of being more resistant to weed killers, which encourages both more overuse of weed killer and making versions that are even more toxic.

I think that cycle has to be broken and more sustainable ways of farming have to be implemented.

I think you have it backwards. GMOs make it so that while yes, the plant is resistant to weed killers this means that you can you less toxic weed killers to fix your fields. Also, while the volume of herbicide used will increase, glyphosate is actually safer and are less likely to bioaccumulate when compared to other crops with more toxic herbicides.

I would like to learn of more sustainable ways to reduce weeds that doesn't increase manpower and reduce output. I like the laser one.

Problem with laser one is one of the biggest ways ag increases production and manages weeds is through no till and the careful management of residue from previous crops. I save my wheat straw and corn stalks carefully because they translate directly into yield. But they won’t work if the weed control system lights the whole bloody field on fire. 😆

haha, yeah, gotta keep those lasers under control! But I really want to see hordes of mini AT-ATs roaming the countryside of Kansas just blasting the fields.

Hehe. Although I think the juice requirements are pretty high on those laser systems. They’re ground rigs with pretty substantial generators.

Oooh, then use a central microwave to rectenna power transfer system! Beam that power to the horde and they can then focus it into a laser.

dancinshroom

As it turns out if you use this herbicide correctly with proper ppe its not hazardous. Its only a problem when dudes go out on their lawn spraying it willynilly in sandals and shorts for 20 years.
Modern herbicides are also why our farming yields have skyrocketed since the 1920s and all "natural" herbicides are terrible for long term soil health.
Its a trade off unfortunately

RetrogradeLlama

Josh25AP

It's been recorded in drifts at 1 mile.

So don't sell it at home depot over the counter then? I mean if any substance requires full PPE and proper training for use selling it to the public and having commercials for it in TV should be restricted

Based on those criteria, you’ll ban half the shit that makes society function.

hipifreq

Even correctly applied, glyphosate (Roundup) accumulates in surface waters and can cause serious harm. Modern herbicides are NOT why yields have increased. It's cheap nitrogen fertilizers

Do you have a source, because the papers I found show differently.

"Concentrations of glyphosate in surface water are generally low with minimal risk to aquatic organisms, including plants. "

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34104986/

Roundup itself is problematic in aquatic ecosystems. But not for the glyphosate itself. There are surfactants in the herbicide mixture that help with leaf penetration etc, but are bad for aquatic stuff.

There ARE aquatic formulations of glyphosate. But I doubt the other guy is talking about this.

Do you have an expert source for any of that? I'm actually really curious about this because whenever I, a nonchemist, look into it; I only seem to find science papers talking about the lower danger levels and politicians and activists talk about how dangerous it is.

Also, I don't see any other herbicide product that is better than it.

It’s what was explained to me in a herbicide systems class in college. If you search “aquatic glyphosate” there’s lots of products out there approved for use. and the difference is the surfactants.

I remember working on a case study where someone had simulated “overspray” (like a farmer leaving the boom on when he turns around over a stream/pond). There was damage to invertebrates and amphibians. But they were also using dosages thousands of times what an actual overspray event would be.

NuclearGradeIrony

Animal and human studies were evaluated by regulatory agencies in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the European Union, as well as the Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues of the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO). These agencies looked at cancer rates in humans and studies where laboratory animals were fed high doses of glyphosate.

Based on these studies, they determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic. However, a committee of scientists working for the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the WHO evaluated fewer studies and reported that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic.

And the committee who decided it was cancer causing had ties to law firms who sue manufacturers/governments for billions.

Always follow the money.

So maybe just don't drink it and you'll be fine. Going outside in the summer is more carcinogenic.

So does anyone have a list of herbicides that don't cause cancer or other life threatening issues?

GermanSausagesAreTheWurst

If you read labels like I do, you will find that Glyphosate is actually the safest effective herbicide on the market. The others are far worse. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/glyphosate-the-new-bogeyman/

Yeah, that's basically what I've been following. Most folks that freak about glyphosate don't seem to be aware that all -cides are unhealthy, though at varying levels of harm.

Not that I could find but the main point should be if these things are so toxic they should be regulated and applied by people that have proper PPE and training. I'm not saying there isnt a use case for these products but as such they should be applied by people who are trained, familiar and have the required protection to use them. Much like pest/insect control usually require proper application, protection and basic knowledge to apply

/Now one thing that I would promote, since it seems as though most of the injured weren't home users but employees that were paid to use this product. My personal feeling is that companies should be absolutely slammed as hard as possible for their willingness to injure their employees through poor working conditions and a dismissive attitude towards safety.

There is also the tradesmen who celebrate taking risks. They are so dumb and get injured all the time, usually by ignoring safety rules.

So... no more paint? No more MEK? No more kerosene. No more gasoline. No more roof sealant/tar. No more concrete.

Heck, maybe we should ban everything that is dangerous and should only be used with PPE? Nail guns. Table saws. Angle grinders.

I've been a safety monitor on many job sites and in shops. PPE is something that should be used more than it is, and the numbers of injured reflect this fact. Banning products because of dumb users will just make it more expensive to DIY.

No. It won’t make things more expensive. It’ll make most of civilization impossible.

Well the other person was talking about banning it for regular people like at the Home Depot. Which is where I put it as being more impossible. Now if they banned it for everyone, then yeah, it would end civilization.

/oh goddamnit. "more impossible" should be "more expensive"

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