The IARC Monographs Program – sowing public confusion, controversy, and criticism: a commentary

Summary This article focuses on the Monographs Program, established to address the growing need for cancer classifications of chemicals and other agents. Part I provides an overview of the Program, its global impact, and how International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) cancer classifications are relied on by U.S. regulatory agencies. Part II discusses two controversial cancer classification decisions involving glyphosate and aspartame, both of which serve to showcase the Monographs Program’s persistent and controversial decision-making process. Indeed, the Program’s cancer classifications continue to roil U.S. federal agencies.