The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on science during the EPA's ongoing review of glyphosate, the widely used herbicide.

Under the agreement the agencies will share scientific information, identify unanswered research questions and coordinate further studies on possible human health effects. The EPA keeps exclusive responsibility for pesticide registration decisions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; officials said the pact gives neither agency new legal authority and does not predetermine the outcome.

"This agreement with Secretary Kennedy and HHS gives our scientists access to research capacity at HHS that addresses potential gaps in the record," EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said, adding that the EPA would weigh the results like any other evidence and show its work.

A technical working group will bring together EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs and specialists from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Toxicology Program, the National Cancer Institute, NIOSH, the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and the FDA.

The work will cover glyphosate formulations and surfactants, workplace exposure, human biomonitoring, dietary exposure and toxicology, and the EPA will review peer-reviewed studies published since its earlier assessment. The updated human-health assessment will consider cancer, genotoxicity and reproductive and developmental evidence, and the agencies expect to flag research needs on emerging issues such as the microbiome.

Working-group materials are to be posted in the EPA's public docket where appropriate, with protected information kept confidential. The registration review of glyphosate, on which many growers rely for weed control, remains in the EPA's hands.

Source: Farms.com