PARIS, France (Reuters) — France’s health and safety agency has decided to ban herbicides that combine glyphosate and the surfactant tallowamine because of uncertainty over possible health risks.
The ANSES agency sent a letter to manufacturers informing them that it intends to withdraw the authorization for such products, said Francoise Weber, the ANSES deputy director-general.
The agency had reviewed products combining glyphosate and tallowamine after the European Food Safety Agency concluded in November that there were greater potential risks compared with glyphosate alone, she said.
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“It is not possible to guarantee that compositions containing glyphosate and tallowamine do not entail negative effects on human health,” Weber said.
Glyphosate has been the subject of fierce debate in the past year since a World Health Organization body classified it as probably carcinogenic. European Union countries are now discussing whether to extend its EU-wide licence.
France’s environment minister has been pushing for an EU-wide ban on glyphosate-based products and is also supporting legislation going through the French parliament that would outlaw a type of pesticide blamed for harming honeybees.
Tallowamine, referred to as polyethoxylated tallowamine, is used in herbicides to allow them to be absorbed effectively by plants.
The substance is combined with glyphosate in many herbicides, but a large number of glyphosate products without tallowamine are available in France, Weber said.
Manufacturers had previously voluntarily withdrawn glyphosate and tallowamine combinations from the German market, she added.
Monsanto, which uses glyphosate to make Roundup, said the commercial impact on the company would be minimal, given that it had already shifted away from using tallowamine.
The company described the debate around glyphosate in Europe as political and said tallow-amine-based products “do not pose an imminent risk for human health when used according to instructions.”
Arguments over glyphosate have divided scientists and pitched environmental groups against chemical companies and farmers who say there are no viable alternatives.
