To the Editor:

Re “Stop Making Us Guinea Pigs,” by Mark Bittman (column, March 25), about the important issue of herbicide safety:

Safety is fundamental to our work with farmers. The glyphosate they use is probably the most thoroughly studied pesticide in history, and researchers know more about it and its safety than just about anything else used for weed control.

German regulators just completed a four-year review of glyphosate safety for the European Union. Unlike the International Agency for Research on Cancer, German regulators had to review all available data. They examined every study the agency looked at, plus many more.

German regulators concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk and posted a skeptical response to the cancer agency’s recent statement.

As a physician, I encourage people not to take our word for it, but rather to research all the facts. Overwhelming evidence regarding glyphosate supports a conclusion of no cancer risk.