DIY retailers reviewing weedkiller ranges following Monsanto lawsuit

Homebase has confirmed its intention to review its weedkiller range, following the success of a lawsuit against Bayer-owned Monsanto.

Monsanto - the maker of Roundup and Ranger Pro - has been ordered to pay $289m (£226m) to a school pest control manager with terminal cancer, who claims that the use of the products contributed to his development of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In a statement, Homebase said: "We have confirmed that we will be reviewing our range of weedkiller products."

Image: Roundup

A spokesperson for B&Q said: "We continually aim to manage our garden products responsibly and have a record of acting ahead of legislation where appropriate. We led the way in removing three pesticides in 2013 and neonicotinoids from our flowering plants in 2018.

"We offer alternatives to glyphosates and we are currently undertaking a broader review of all our garden products."

Roundup is widely available in the UK and contains the herbicide glyphosphate, the world's most commonly used weedkiller, which has long courted controversy and is banned in several countries.

Scott Partridge, Monsanto Vice President, told UK consumers: "Roundup has been safe for four decades and will continue to be safe. There is no credible scientific evidence that demonstrates otherwise.

"It is completely and totally safe and the public should not be concerned about this verdict, it is one that we will work through the legal process to see if we can get the right result. The science is crystal clear."

Source : Insight DIY 

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