Quinolizidine Alkaloids in Lupins
ContaminantsQuinolizidine alkaloids are secondary metabolic products that serve plants as defense and protection against herbivores....
Glyphosate is a widely used active substance in pesticides. It prevents the growth of unwanted plants around cultivated crops and eliminates specific plants or their parts. We commonly refer to it as “herbicides” or “weedkillers”.
Due to concerns surrounding Glyphosate, the EU Pesticides Legislation requires time-limited authorizations and periodic reassessments of active substances to extend their market licenses. The current five-year market authorization for glyphosate, originally set to expire on December 15th, 2022, has been extended until December 15th, 2023.
EFSA and ECHA Update Timelines for Assessments
As anticipated and previously informed, EFSA conducted a peer review of the risk assessment for glyphosate on July 6th, 2023. The review found no significant concerns regarding its impact on humans, animals, or the environment. In 2022, ECHA conducted a hazard assessment of glyphosate. It concluded that it does not meet the scientific criteria for classification as a carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic substance.
EFSA’s conclusions highlight several outstanding issues and data gaps. The European Commission and Member States need to address them during the approval renewal process. These include the assessment of impurities in glyphosate, consumer dietary risk assessment, and evaluation of risks to aquatic plants.
One of the outstanding issues is the lack of toxicity information about one of the components. It includes the absence of indications of acute toxicity and genotoxicity.
Experts acknowledge that the risks associated with glyphosate and biodiversity are complex. Due to their multifactorial nature, definitive conclusions are difficult to draw.
Regarding ecotoxicology, a conservative risk assessment approach using the available data package revealed a high long-term risk to mammals in 12 out of 23 proposed uses of glyphosate.
EFSA shared their conclusions with the European Commission and Member States on July 6th. These conclusions will play a significant role in their decision-making process regarding the retention of glyphosate on the EU list of approved pesticide active substances.
Read here EFSA’s Factsheet on Glyphosate.
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