Pesticides that "probably" cause cancer

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, on Friday released classifications of five pesticides: diazinon, malathion, glyphosate, parathion and tetrachlorvinphos under "probably" and "possibly" carcinogenic to humans. The finding has been detailed online in the Lancet Oncology journal.

Malathion, glyphosate and diazinon which are "probably" carcinogenic are contained in the Round Up weed product, which is used by many farmers. Also, glyophosate has the highest global production volume of all herbicides, with the highest use in agriculture.

However, IARC has mentioned that the conclusion of the study is based on “limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and prostate cancer.”

Meanwhile, the City of Winnipeg has decided to avoid Malathion, which it used in previous years to kill adult mosquitoes and go with 100 percent biological mosquito larvicides instead.