The UN’s International Agency for Research on Cancer says three pesticides, including the popular weedkiller Roundup, which is sold in New Zealand, are “probably” carcinogenic.
IARC also says two others, which have already been outlawed or restricted, are “possibly” carcinogenic.
It classified the herbicide glyphosate - the active ingredient in Roundup - and the insecticides malathion and diazinon as “probably carcinogenic” on the basis of “limited evidence” of cancer among humans.
The insecticides tetrachlorvinphos and parathion were classified as “possibly carcinogenic” in the light of “convincing evidence” from lab animals, it said.
The classification, made by an expert panel, is not binding, said IARC, an agency based in Lyon, southeastern France, that comes under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Cancer warning on three pesticides - UN” NZ Herald, March 21, 2015