A U.S. jury on Wednesday found that a herbicide weed killer produced by a unit of German agriculture and pharmaceuticals company Bayer, contributed to a man’s cancer.
The federal jury in San Francisco determined unanimously that weed killer Roundup, produced by agro-chemical company Monsanto, was a substantial factor in California resident Edwin Hardemans’ cancer.
Monsanto has been a unit of Bayer since a takeover in 2018.
The trial will now enter a second phase, in which it will be determined whether Monsanto had known about the risks and how much in possible damages could be paid out.
The case is considered a “bellwether” for thousands of Roundup cases nationwide.
Over 760 cases are consolidated in the San Francisco court hearing Hardeman’s case.
The trial came months after another California court found that Roundup had caused another man’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that affects the immune system, and that Monsanto had failed to warn consumers about the cancer risks.
Roundup contains glyphosate, one of the world’s most commonly used active ingredients in weed killers.
The herbicide is widely used in farming, while it is also use in controlling plants in domestic and urban settings. (dpa/NAN)