70 years of Ongoing Research and Review
2,4-D is one of the world's most widely-used herbicides. It is used to by farmers to maximize crop growth and produce more food per acre, public works operators to improve safety along highways and rail lines, foresters to control competing growth to new seedlings, and homeowners to manage weeds on their lawns. Based on continually updated scientific studies, health and safety authorities around the world find that 2,4-D meets modern safety standards. They include:
Earlier this year, an IARC working group included 2,4-D on a list of products to be reviewed. IARC working groups are comprised of academics and researchers with diverse backgrounds who meet to discuss a selection of published literature about several compounds over the course of 7 days. The IARC working group does not conduct any new research, but rather reviews a selection of studies previously reviewed by health and safety regulators.
Regulatory authorities charged with protection of public health can spend more than 15 years conducting thorough, risk-based evaluations of all of the data. For each review, regulators require new studies be conducted which add to the more than 4,000 that regulators currently have on 2,4-D.