Iowa advocates expect another push for pesticide tort protections next year

One in an occasional series of articles about issues that are likely to return for debate in next year's session of the Iowa Legislature.

DES MOINES — A proposal to prohibit lawsuits over warning labels on pesticides — if the product already has a qualifying warning label — sparked a debate this year at the Iowa Capitol about the role of pesticides in crop production, on the state’s economy, and on the public health of Iowa farmers.

The proposed legislation ultimately failed to gain sufficient support among Iowa lawmakers to pass into law this year. The topic is likely to return to the legislative agenda in 2025.

The bill was proposed by the pesticide manufacturer Bayer, which has multiple crop science plants in Iowa. Bayer makes the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, and has faced lawsuits nationwide from individuals claiming the company failed to warn consumers of the potential health risks of the weedkiller.

Jess Christiansen, the head of crop science and sustainability communications for Bayer, said Monday that she hopes to continue the discussion with Iowa lawmakers in 2025. She said the resources Bayer must devote to defending Roundup from lawsuits is not sustainable for the company.

“It’s not a sustainable business model for us. So we are looking at various strategies to figure out how do we really keep important tools such as Roundup on the market for farmers,” Christiansen said. “We really want to do everything we possibly can to make sure that there’s access to these tools for farmers. So we’re going to continue, and that’s one of the reasons we want to continue the dialogue.”

The legislative proposal, Senate File 2412, passed the Iowa Senate on a 30-19 vote that was mostly party-line, with only Republicans supporting and four Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against.

The proposal did not receive any legislation attention in the Iowa House.

  Buy Photo

Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, said recently on Iowa PBS’ “Iowa Press” that the debate over the bill was “difficult.”

“It was a very difficult issue trying to decide where to land on that,” Grassley said on “Iowa Press.”

Grassley went on to express concern with how the lawsuits are impacting Bayer and its facilities in Iowa.

“I think you’ve seen some of the impacts it has had on Bayer as a company. We have to realize it is having an impact. And the largest facility they have in the creation of Roundup is in Iowa,” Grassley said. “So the question gets back to me is where do we want to source our things within agriculture? It could be Roundup or this herbicide in this instance. It could be something else some other time. I just don’t want us to become more dependent on something that’s not produced here in Iowa or in America and have to look to other countries, maybe even some that are unfriendly, that produce these products.”

Roundup has received significant scrutiny over health claims and its link to the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. About 165,000 cancer claims have been brought in the United States against Bayer over exposure to the weedkiller, according to reporting by Reuters. Many were resolved as part of a $9.6 billion settlement in 2020, but about 54,000 remain.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that glyphosate “is unlikely to be a human carcinogen” and that there are no risks of concern to human health when used in accordance with its current label. However, a U.S. appeals court ordered the agency to reconsider those findings in 2022.

A World Health Organization cancer agency in 2015 found glyphosate was likely capable of causing cancer, but European Union regulators have determined there was not sufficient evidence for that finding.

Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers in the nation and the second-highest cancer rate overall. Physicians and public health professionals have said it’s time to look more closely at how Iowa’s agriculture might be contributing.

Opponents of the proposed legislation expressed concern that it would strip Iowans of a legal avenue to challenge pesticide manufacturers over adverse health effects caused by prolonged exposure to pesticides. Critics contended that such a bill could leave Iowa farmers without legal recourse.

Supporters of the bill argued that it is limited in scope, that it would prohibit only lawsuits over labeling once a product meets labeling requirements from federal regulators.

The Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Corn Growers Association, and Iowa Association of Business and Industry are among the Iowa groups that registered in support of the bill, according to state lobbying records. A multistate coalition of agricultural groups that supports legal protection for glyphosate also includes the Iowa Soybean Association.

The Gazette was unable to obtain a comment on the legislation from the Iowa Farm Bureau or the Iowa Corn Growers Association, who deferred to Bayer.

The groups who lobbied against the proposal this year include organizations that represent attorneys and environmental groups.

Similar legislative proposals have been introduced in Missouri and Idaho.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com