Federal agencies are expanding scientific cooperation to address key research questions related to glyphosate exposure, safety and human health.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have entered a new Memorandum of Understanding aimed at expanding scientific cooperation during EPA’s ongoing review of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide.
The agreement will allow the agencies to share scientific information, identify unanswered research questions, and coordinate additional studies related to potential human health effects.
EPA will continue to have exclusive responsibility for decisions involving pesticide registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Officials said the agreement does not give either agency new legal authority and does not predetermine the outcome of the glyphosate review.
“FIFRA requires us to reexamine registered pesticides on a recurring cycle against the best available science, and that is exactly what we are doing with glyphosate. This agreement with Secretary Kennedy and HHS gives our scientists access to research capacity at HHS that addresses potential gaps in the record," said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
"EPA will weigh what that work produces the way we weigh any other scientific evidence. We will evaluate the relevant evidence, address important scientific questions, and show our work, providing insight into how the science informs our decisions, as we always do, to conduct the most transparent and thorough review possible,” Zeldin added.
The agencies plan to create a technical working group involving specialists from EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs and several HHS organizations. Participants will include researchers and experts from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Toxicology Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
Research coordination will cover glyphosate formulations and surfactants, workplace exposure, human biomonitoring, dietary exposure, and toxicology. EPA also plans to examine relevant peer-reviewed studies published since its earlier assessment using its established literature-review standards.
The agency’s updated assessment will consider cancer, genotoxicity, reproductive and developmental evidence, as well as exposure through food, work, and glyphosate-based products. The agencies also expect the collaboration to help identify research needs involving emerging issues such as the microbiome.
Working-group materials are expected to be made available through the EPA’s public docket as appropriate, while protected information will remain confidential. EPA is currently updating its glyphosate human-health assessment as part of the registration-review process.
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