Monsanto known for controversial chemicals
From "Agent Orange" and DDT to genetically modified crops, Monsanto has long been associated with controversial chemicals, but a US court order for it to pay damages because one of its herbicides may cause cancer could open the door to thousands more claims against the company. A California jury on Friday ordered the US agrochemicals giant -- which was taken over by Germany's Bayer in June -- to pay nearly $290 million in compensation to a groundskeeper diagnosed with cancer after he repeatedly used Monsanto's weed killer, Roundup. The lawsuit built on 2015 findings by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the UN World Health Organization, which classified Roundup's main ingredient glyphosate as a probable carcinogen.