A newly announced partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services over the federal review of glyphosate is drawing a cautious response from the Center for Food Safety, which says questions remain over how the herbicide’s potential health effects will be assessed.
The response comes after the EPA announced that it would work with federal health scientists as part of its ongoing registration review of glyphosate, one of the world’s most widely used herbicide ingredients. The agency has indicated that its human health risk assessment is expected to be completed in early 2027.
Center for Food Safety Raises Concerns Over EPA Record
Center for Food Safety Science Director Bill Freese welcomed greater involvement from government health scientists but said the organization remains skeptical about the EPA’s handling of glyphosate.
“While we welcome any partnership between EPA and government health scientists on glyphosate, we cannot forget that EPA has a long history of colluding with Monsanto (now Bayer) to whitewash glyphosate’s carcinogenicity and other health impacts, that a federal court struck down EPA’s glyphosate human health assessment as unlawful in 2022, and that EPA routinely rejects all peer-reviewed scientific studies on the health impacts of glyphosate and glyphosate formulations in favor of unpublished studies and data provided to it by Monsanto.”
The statement represents the Center for Food Safety’s characterization of the EPA’s regulatory record and relationship with pesticide manufacturers. Monsanto, which developed the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, was acquired by Bayer in 2018.
Glyphosate has remained the subject of scientific, regulatory and legal debate over potential health risks. Different regulatory and scientific bodies have reached differing conclusions about aspects of its potential carcinogenicity and risks under conditions of use.
Federal Court Ruling Remains Part of Regulatory Debate
The Center for Food Safety also pointed to a 2022 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving the EPA’s previous glyphosate assessment.
The court ordered the agency to reconsider portions of its glyphosate evaluation, including its human health analysis. The ruling added another stage to the federal government’s continuing registration review process for the herbicide.
The EPA’s latest collaboration with HHS is intended to bring additional federal health expertise into that process. However, the Center for Food Safety argues that research conducted through the partnership may not produce usable results quickly enough to influence the assessment currently scheduled for completion in early 2027.
“Moreover, the collaboration EPA announced will take years to bear fruit in terms of usable results on the health impacts of glyphosate formulations in commercial use, far beyond the “early 2027” timeframe EPA has announced for completion of its glyphosate human health risk assessment.”
Timing of Glyphosate Assessment Comes Under Focus
The timing is significant because the EPA’s registration review could shape future federal regulatory requirements governing glyphosate products in the United States.
Registration reviews allow the agency to reassess pesticides as scientific knowledge, exposure information and regulatory standards evolve. Potential outcomes can include continued registration, revised labeling, additional risk-mitigation requirements or other regulatory measures depending on the agency’s findings.
For agricultural businesses, pesticide manufacturers and farmers, the review is commercially important because glyphosate is extensively used for weed management. Regulatory changes in the United States can also attract attention in Canada and other major agricultural markets, where authorities conduct their own pesticide assessments under separate regulatory frameworks.
Food Safety Group Calls for Greater Scrutiny
Freese concluded the Center for Food Safety’s response by questioning whether the newly announced collaboration will substantially change the EPA’s approach.
“While we would like to believe “this time it’ll be different,” we are skeptical given EPA’s long history of approving toxic pesticides at the behest of the pesticide industry; and it is EPA rather than RFK Jr.’s Dept. of Health and Human Services that is calling the shots here.”
The comments are allegations and opinions expressed by the Center for Food Safety and should not be interpreted as independently established findings about the EPA’s motives or conduct.
The EPA-HHS partnership adds another element to a long-running regulatory process surrounding glyphosate. Attention will now focus on how the agencies incorporate emerging scientific evidence, what role HHS researchers play in the assessment, and whether the work affects the EPA’s planned early-2027 review timeline.