Herbicide at center of landmark court case

IN the first trial of its kind, a Californian dying of cancer is suing US agrochemical colossus Monsanto, claiming its popular herbicide Roundup caused his disease — a case that could have sweeping ramifications.

The stakes are high for Monsanto, which could face massive losses should a jury order it to pay out damages over the product, whose main ingredient is glyphosate, a substance some say is carcinogenic.

Dewayne Johnson, a 46-yearold father of two, says he is sick because of contact with Roundup, which he used for two years from 2012 as a groundskeeper for the Benicia school district near San Francisco, his lawyer Timothy Litzenburg said.

“A major part of that job was spraying Roundup or Ranger Pro (a similar Monsanto product) .... He sprayed it 20 to 40 times per year, sometimes hundreds of gallons at a time on the school properties,” Litzenburg said.

In 2014, Johnson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that affects white blood cells. No longer able to work two years later, he filed suit against Monsanto, accusing the company of hiding the dangers of its product.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a World Health Organization body, has classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic.” But Monsanto has always denied any link between disease and glyphosate.

“If Johnson is successful at trial, it will be a huge shake-up for the entire pesticide industry.” said Linda Wells, Midwest organizing director for Pesticide Action Network North America.

Roundup has been accused of damaging the environment, contributing to the disappearance of bees and being an endocrine disruptor.