The Iowa Senate passed a controversial bill that critics claim protects pesticide manufacturers from civil lawsuits regarding the labeling of their products.

According to OurQuadCities, Senate File 2412 “allows that if a label is approved by the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and is consistent with the most recent human health assessment under federal law and the EPA’s carcinogen classification, companies would be safe from civil liability.”

However, critics said the health risks associated with products like Roundup and Paraquat are well known.

“Bayer, the chemical company that produces Roundup, proposed the bill in Iowa and other states in an effort to reduce lawsuits alleging the commonly used weedkiller has caused cancer. It says pesticide makers cannot be held liable for failing to alert people of possible health risks as long as their products have a federally-approved label,” Iowa Public Radio writes.

“Iowa Senate votes to limit lawsuits over Roundup. As cancer rates in Iowa rise, state lawmakers continue to advance a bill that would add legal protections for pesticide makers like Bayer, who helped write the bill,” GMWatch, an independent organization that reports on genetically modified (GMO) foods and crops and their associated pesticides, commented.

Iowa Public Radio reports:

Republican supporters of the bill said it would ensure pesticide companies are not sued for following federal labeling rules, while Democrats said the bill sides with corporations against Iowans facing terminal illness.

Senate President Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, said the bill is needed to protect modern farming practices.

“Iowa feeds the world,” Sinclair said. “And we need partners in that who aren’t constantly under threat of lawsuits for following the very laws governing the way they do business.”

Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said the bill takes away Iowans’ right to sue for being sickened by pesticides, and it protects multinational corporations.

“This bill is stripping away the legal protections for Iowa farmers,” she said. “And they are the people who are getting diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s from chemicals they’re putting on their land that we know [are] causing it.”

“Study after study has already demonstrated that these chemical products will increase your risk of developing either cancer or Parkinson’s,” Andrew Mertens from the Iowa Association for Justice told We Are Iowa Local 5 News.

We Are Iowa noted:

According to the Iowa Cancer Consortium, there is a link “between certain agricultural practices and pesticide use, and cancer” for agricultural workers.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer came to the same conclusion back in 2015, classifying glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Bayer, the parent company of Roundup, has spent more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits claiming their product causes cancer, per the Associated Press. Around 200 Iowans have filed their own lawsuits against the company, citing that the product caused them to develop cancer.

On the debate floor Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Edler, R-Marshall County, argued those lawsuits have inflated the prices of these products, further impacting Iowa farmers.

“We’re dealing with billions of dollars of lawsuits against the farm industry,” Edler said. “The reality is, that money is coming out of farmers’ pockets.”

Senate Democratic Whip Nate Boulton, D-Polk County, disagreed.

“We have seen time and time again, corporate greed wins with these companies …. this body is now considering legislation to protect those companies,” Boulton said. “This is madness.”

WATCH:

“Senate File 2412 is about shielding pesticide companies from liability. This would be the only kind of legislation of its kind in the entire country and it’s headed to the governor’s desk for signature. A very conservative state, Idaho, just rejected a similar measure this year,” Iowa state Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat, said.

WATCH:

“The bill, backed by Bayer, aims to protect the company and others like it from lawsuits accusing their products of not adequately warning of potential health issues, including cancer,” the Des Moines Register noted.

From the Des Moines Register:

Craig Mischo, a lobbyist with Bayer, called the measure a “labeling bill,” saying there are no dollar caps on lawsuits and “we can still be sued for anything else.”

Advocate groups disagreed with Bayer’s interpretation of the legislation, arguing it would effectively cut off members of the public from an array of legal options.

“Some of these other torts that he’s talking about, like general negligence, all include a component or an element of a warning,” said Kellie Paschke, with the Iowa Association for Justice. “If this legislation was signed into law, it takes that off the table … so we can’t bring any other claims.”

The Senate version of the measure, Senate File 2412, passed on a 30-19 vote. Four Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.

Read Senate File 2412 HERE.

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