Dicamba Cancer Lawsuit

For Bayer, BASF, and other agrichemical companies, the plan for dicamba appears to follow in the footsteps of glyphosate: the use of glyphosate skyrocketed after genetically-modified Roundup-Ready crops were introduced, and the agrichemical industry has the same hopes for dicamba and dicamba-resistant crops.

But dicamba shares another similarity with glyphosate – both are toxic to animals, people, and the environment. And, it is not just generally toxic but carcinogenic to humans.

Dicamba Cancer Link

Researchers from the NIH uncovered the link between dicamba and cancer by re-evaluating the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), exhaustive research that followed 49,922 pesticide applicators (including 26,412 dicamba applicators) in North Carolina and Iowa for over 20 years to document the incidence of cancer among not just the applicators themselves, but also their spouses.

The AHS began in 1993 with the goal of answering important questions about how agricultural, lifestyle and genetic factors affect the health of farming populations. The study is a collaborative effort involving investigators from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

According to the NIH researchers, “dicamba was associated with increased risk of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer” and that “[t]his association was robust to exposure lags of up to 20 years.” It is worth noting that the AHS study controlled for various factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

The researchers also found that among those in the highest quartile of exposure (the top 25% of users who sprayed the most dicamba), the rate of liver cancer and bile duct cancer increased when compared to those who did not use dicamba.

“When we litigated Roundup cases, Monsanto repeatedly referred to the AHS study as the ‘gold standard,’ said attorney R. Brent Wisner. “It’s important to note here that the AHS study was conducted among pesticide applicators who use protective gear. Even with the gear, the study still showed that dicamba is extremely dangerous and carcinogenic.”

The AHS is not the only study linking dicamba to cancer. Human and animal studies have shown that dicamba is capable of altering liver function in a way that can induce tumors. Another study has found that dicamba is capable of promoting liver cancer in combination with other carcinogens. Like glyphosate, dicamba has also been found to cause DNA damage and induce oxidative stress, two known pathways to cancer.

Ninth Circuit California Dicamba Order – “EPA Substantially Underrated Risks”

In the summer of 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order de-registering dicamba products. The federal appeals court in San Francisco, California said the EPA’s 2018 registration of dicamba “substantially understated risks that it acknowledged and failed entirely to acknowledge other risks.” Although this decision was primarily in the context of dicamba drift, the Ninth Circuit panel further held that EPA understated the acreage on which dicamba was sprayed and the amount of damage the herbicide caused in its 2018 registration.

In October of 2020, just months after the Ninth Circuit order, the EPA registered dicamba products sold by Monsanto (Bayer), Syngenta, Corveta, and BASF in the U.S. The EPA’s registration for dicamba did not reference the now-released AHS study linking the herbicide to liver cancer and bile duct cancer.. The Ninth Circuit’s comments in conjunction with the AHS study’s findings paint an alarming and accurate picture: a carcinogenic chemical that is airborne and does not stay put.

“It is reckless for EPA to assure consumers that dicamba is safe without considering the AHS cancer findings,” says attorney R. Brent Wisner.