A bill protecting pesticide manufacturers from some lawsuits about warning labels has gained initial approval in the Missouri House. The bill protects manufacturers’ pesticides that the EPA has already approved from claims that they failed to warn consumers of possible cancer risks.
While some Republicans broke with their party to oppose the bill, the Republican majority still had the numbers to give the bill initial approval. It will need another vote before moving to the Senate for consideration.
Bayer, the company headquartered in St. Louis that produces the RoundUp pesticide, worked to introduce the bill and has supported similar legislation in Iowa and Idaho.
Bayer is facing hundreds of thousands of legal claims from those who believe their non-Hodgskin’s lymphoma was caused by RoundUp, which has glyphosate as the active ingredient. The EPA has ruled that glyphosate is not carcinogenic to humans. However, Bayer has been found liable in some cases they face.
This story comes from the Missouri News Network, a news partner with KRCU Public Radio.