LA County bans Monsanto weed killer citing health concerns

Los Angeles County this week issued a moratorium on the use of Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer, citing the need for more research into its active ingredient, an NBC News affiliate reported.

The move by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday came the same day that a federal jury in San Francisco delivered a verdict in favor of Edward Hardeman, who said his cancer was caused by exposure to Roundup.

{mosads}More than 50 U.S. cities and counties have banned the chemical, the most commonly used herbicide in the world.

Across the country, Bayer AG, which bought Monsanto last year, faces more than 11,000 similar lawsuits alleging that glyphosate causes cancer.

The World Health Organization in 2015 classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” The Environmental Protection Agency says the weed killer has low toxicity for humans is not likely to cause cancer.

Environmental groups praised Los Angeles’s decision.

“Kicking Bayer-Monsanto and its cancer-causing weedkiller off L.A. County property was absolutely the right call,” Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said in a statement. “We know glyphosate causes cancer in people and shouldn’t be sprayed anywhere – period. We don’t know how many Angelenos have been exposed to this dangerous chemical through its use by the county, but we can keep others from being exposed.”

Monsanto did not immediately respond to a request for comment.