The German chemical company Bayer was in a French court on Thursday to face accusations by a French family that its glyphosate-based herbicide caused birth defects in their son.
Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in the world, and the company has paid out billions of euros in compensation for cancer-related cases, but this is the first case to connect the chemical with birth defects.
Theo Grataloup, 17, who was born with severe abnormalities of the oesophagus and larynx, said he represents all those with birth defects.
Grataloup, who spoke to the AFP news agency Thursday morning before entering the courtroom in Vienne, eastern France, said the case could “set a legal precedent” and “allow other victims to go to court much quicker”.
He and his family are hoping the court will recognise a causal link between glyphosate and his birth defects – a first for the company, which has consistently denied any link between glyphosate and cancer, but has paid out billions of euros in compensation to settle cancer-related cases.
In 2015, the World Health Organization classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen”.
The herbicide is banned in France for individuals, though still authorised by the European Union for certain applications.
Grataloup’s mother, Sabine, used a glyphosate-based product to clear weeds from a horse riding arena in 2006 without realising she was a few weeks pregnant.
Since Theo was born in 2007 with birth defects to his throat,, he has undergone 55 surgeries to allow him to eat normally, though he still breathes through a hole in his throat.
His parents filed a lawsuit in 2018 against Monsanto, the company that Bayer had just bought, which had been manufacturing the chemical, and six years later, they are in court.
A compensation commission set up by the French government for children exposed to pesticides in utero recognised the link between glyphosate and Grataloup’s malformations, and since 2022 he has been receiving €1,000 a month from the fund, which is financed in part by a tax on the sale of herbicides and plant protection products.
