health

Post-it maker 3M faces Belgian trial over 'forever' chemicals

BY MATTHIEU DEMEESTERE

  • Often called "forever chemicals" as they take an extremely long time to break down, PFAS are human-made chemicals that repel heat, water and oil, and are used in nonstick pans, stain-proof carpets, and other products. 
  • Hundreds of Belgians living near a 3M plant have sued the US multinational maker of Post-it and Scotch tape over pollution from so-called "forever chemicals" in a trial that opens on Tuesday.
  • Often called "forever chemicals" as they take an extremely long time to break down, PFAS are human-made chemicals that repel heat, water and oil, and are used in nonstick pans, stain-proof carpets, and other products. 
Hundreds of Belgians living near a 3M plant have sued the US multinational maker of Post-it and Scotch tape over pollution from so-called "forever chemicals" in a trial that opens on Tuesday.
The residents are demanding almost 30 million euros ($35 million) in total in potential damages in the latest in a series of legal cases worldwide centring on the harm caused by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 
Abnormal levels of groundwater and soil pollution were detected near a 3M site in Zwijndrecht, outside the port city of Antwerp, in 2021.
A blood-sampling campaign later confirmed that hundreds of people living nearby had been exposed to very high concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), a member of the PFAS family used as a waterproofing agent. 
3M said it has not produced PFAS at the plant inaugurated in the 1970s since 2024 and has launched a soil remediation operation in the area. 
But Geert Lenssens, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said about 1,400 locals are seeking 20,000 euros each in compensation in anticipation of future needs, accusing the US group of "excessive neighbourhood disturbances".
"An illness can take several decades to develop, as we saw with asbestos," Lenssens said, adding his clients' properties in the area also stood to lose value.
- Human-made chemicals - 
Heard by an Antwerp judge, the case is scheduled to last three days and follows the successful lawsuit brought by another local family against 3M before the same court, according to Lenssens.
A verdict is not expected before a month.
Often called "forever chemicals" as they take an extremely long time to break down, PFAS are human-made chemicals that repel heat, water and oil, and are used in nonstick pans, stain-proof carpets, and other products. 
They are increasingly being restricted across the world due to adverse health effects. 
Chronic exposure to even low levels has been linked to liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, low birth weights and several kinds of cancer. 
3M told AFP it is currently carrying out a large-scale clean-up operation in Zwijndrecht, following a 2022 agreement with local authorities, under which the firm committed to spending half a billion euros on remediation measures.
The company, which has also been sued in the United States over its use of PFAS, said it would end all PFAS manufacturing by the end of 2025. 
mad/ub/ec/gv

Greenland

Healthcare crisis looms over Greenland's isolated villages

BY FLORENT VERGNES

  • The lack of regular check-ups means that diseases such as cancers -- the leading cause of mortality in Greenland -- are often detected late.
  • The Greenlandic settlement of Kapisillit has no defibrillator -- which, given it is only accessible via a two-hour boat ride or by helicopter, means that if you go into cardiac arrest while there, you could be in real trouble.
  • The lack of regular check-ups means that diseases such as cancers -- the leading cause of mortality in Greenland -- are often detected late.
The Greenlandic settlement of Kapisillit has no defibrillator -- which, given it is only accessible via a two-hour boat ride or by helicopter, means that if you go into cardiac arrest while there, you could be in real trouble.
"It would be too late" by the time help arrives, village leader Heidi Nolso -- who is fighting to bring in the much-needed medical device for the 35 inhabitants -- told AFP.
The situation facing Kapisillit underscores the challenges to the healthcare system in the vast Arctic island, recently called out by US President Donald Trump.
On Saturday Trump -- who has backed off threats to seize the autonomous Danish territory, but still insists it must come under US control for security reasons -- proposed sending a "great hospital boat" to Greenland.
It would provide care to the "many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there".
The proposal was soundly rejected by Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nelson and by Copenhagen, both touting Greenland's free public healthcare system. 
Nevertheless, Trump's statements touched "a sensitive nerve," Greenland's Health Minister Anna Wangenheim acknowledged in a post to Facebook.
"Many citizens have experienced that serious illness means long and difficult journeys away from family and home," she said -- though she added that such "structural challenges are not solved by isolated, symbolic initiatives from the outside."
There are five regional hospitals across Greenland, which is home to just 57,000 people but is roughly the size of western Europe. The hospital in the capital Nuuk serves patients from all over the territory.
But for the 35 residents of Kapisillit, getting to that care is an obstacle course.
The village does have a medical office -- but it has stood empty for months due to lack of staff, and traveling to receive care elsewhere is expensive.
A trip to Nuuk on the weekly shuttle costs over $100, and the average price for a night in a hotel in the capital is in the same range.
The lack of regular check-ups means that diseases such as cancers -- the leading cause of mortality in Greenland -- are often detected late.
Nolso, who suffers from high blood pressure, does her own medical follow-ups.
"I know that I should have blood samples taken, but no one is checking up on me," the leader, who is in her 40s, said. 
– Rifles to prevent rabies –
Kaaleeraq Ringsted, the catechist of the tiny parish, lives alone at 74. 
His teeth are in very poor condition and, as he ages, he knows the risk of cancer and other diseases is increasing.
Doctor consultations only take place via online video calls. Those who don't have internet access make use of the small town hall.
Once a year, a dentist comes to visit, but many dental procedures are not covered by the universal healthcare. 
Wangenheim says one of the primary challenges is the "recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals".
For Nolso, the requirement to master Danish in order to work in the healthcare system makes it harder for foreign doctors to come and help make up for the shortfall.
The problems are compounded by an exodus towards cities by young people, leaving remote settlements such as Kapisillit disproportionately populated by older people. 
Wangenheim has conceded there is a "significant backlog in Greenland's healthcare system," estimated at about one billion kroner ($158 million).
The island "needs long-term capacity building, stronger local services, and investments that reduce inequality" in relation to Denmark, she said.
Official statistics show that life expectancy on the Arctic island is 69.6 years for men and 73.5 for women -- far lower than in Denmark, where people on average live 10 years longer.
But Wangenheim also said that funding has been secured for those improvements, and work is "well underway". 
In the meantime, residents of villages such as Kapisillit do what they can to prevent disease. 
In a village where nature and the outdoors form the backbone of daily life, for example, few people are vaccinated against rabies.
Instead, residents walk around with rifles, ready to shoot any wildlife exhibiting odd behaviour.
fv/cbw/jll/st

US

'No thanks': Greenland, Denmark reject Trump's hospital ship offer

  • "President Trump's idea to send a US hospital ship here to Greenland has been duly noted.
  • Denmark and its territory Greenland on Sunday rejected Donald Trump's offer to send a naval hospital ship to the Arctic island coveted by the US leader. 
  • "President Trump's idea to send a US hospital ship here to Greenland has been duly noted.
Denmark and its territory Greenland on Sunday rejected Donald Trump's offer to send a naval hospital ship to the Arctic island coveted by the US leader. 
A day earlier, Trump said he was sending "a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there".
But Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, who heads the autonomous territory's government, wrote on his Facebook page: "That will be 'no thanks' from us."
"President Trump's idea to send a US hospital ship here to Greenland has been duly noted. But we have a public health system where care is free for citizens," he said.
"This is not the case in the United States, where going to the doctor costs money."
Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen likewise told Danish broadcaster DR: "The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark."
He added: "It's not as if there's a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland."
On the day that Trump made his proposal, Danish forces evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Greenland's capital Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention. 
Denmark's Joint Arctic Command said in a post on Facebook that the crew member was flown to a hospital in Nuuk after an unspecified medical emergency on board the vessel.

AI-generated hospital ship

In Greenland, as in Denmark, access to healthcare is free for citizens. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving patients from all over the territory.
Without explicitly mentioning the US proposal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was "happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for all. Where insurance or wealth does not determine whether one receives dignified treatment".
Trump, in his Truth Social message on Saturday about the hospital ship, posted an AI-generated image of a US Navy medical vessel, USNS Mercy. 
"It's on the way!!!" he added.
It was not immediately clear if that meant he was deploying that ship to Greenland.
The US president indicated the deployment was being carried out in coordination with Jeff Landry, appointed in December as the US Special Envoy to the Arctic island.
Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish Parliament, wrote on Facebook that, while Greenland's health system had its share of problems, they were best resolved through cooperation with Denmark.
Denmark, she noted, "is one of the wealthiest and most educated countries, for example in the field of healthcare," contrasting it with "the United States, which has its own healthcare system problems".
Earlier this month, Greenland signed an agreement with Copenhagen to improve the treatment of Greenlandic patients in Danish hospitals. 
Denmark's central bank had warned in January that the Arctic island's public finances were under pressure from demographic trends, pointing to its ageing population and shrinking workforce. 

'New normal'

Trump has repeatedly said he believes the United States must control Greenland to ensure US national security.
Earlier threats he made to seize the territory, by force if necessary, have ebbed since he struck a "framework" deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence.
The defence minister, Lund Poulsen, told DR he was not aware of a possible arrival of the suggested US hospital ship. 
"Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics," he said. 
Meanwhile, in Nuuk, where a third of the island's 57,000 inhabitants live, people are tired of the US president's repeated jabs. 
"I don't care," a man said under sparse, icy snowfall when asked by AFP about Trump's recent remarks, while most people avoided journalists' questions. 
cbw/thm/rh/sbk

US

Greenland does not need US hospital ship: Danish minister

  • Separately, early on Saturday Denmark's Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.  
  • Denmark on Sunday rejected a US claim that Greenland needs healthcare help, on the same day its forces evacuate a US sailor from a submarine off the coast of the Arctic island for medical treatment. 
  • Separately, early on Saturday Denmark's Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.  
Denmark on Sunday rejected a US claim that Greenland needs healthcare help, on the same day its forces evacuate a US sailor from a submarine off the coast of the Arctic island for medical treatment. 
A day earlier, US President Donald Trump said he was sending a hospital ship to the autonomous Danish territory that he covets.
But Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR: "The Greenlandic population receives the healthcare it needs. They receive it either in Greenland, or, if they require specialised treatment, they receive it in Denmark."
He added: "It's not as if there's a need for a special healthcare initiative in Greenland."
In Greenland, as in Denmark, access to healthcare is free. There are five regional hospitals across the vast Arctic island, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving patients from all over the territory.
Without explicitly mentioning the US proposal, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she was "happy to live in a country where access to healthcare is free and equal for all. Where insurance or wealth does not determine whether one receives dignified treatment."
Separately, early on Saturday Denmark's Arctic Command announced that it had evacuated a crew member of a US submarine off the coast of Nuuk after the sailor requested urgent medical attention.  

AI-generated hospital ship

Trump, in his Truth Social message on Saturday proposing a hospital ship, posted an AI-generated image of a US Navy medical vessel, USNS Mercy. 
It was not immediately clear if that meant he was deploying that ship to Greenland.
"We are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there," Trump wrote.
"It's on the way!!!" he added.
 The US president indicated the deployment was being carried out in coordination with Jeff Landry, appointed in December as the US Special Envoy to the Arctic island.
Greenland already has five regional hospitals, with the one in the capital Nuuk serving the whole territory, whose population is 57,000.
Aaja Chemnitz, who represents Greenland in the Danish Parliament, wrote on Facebook that while Greenland's health system had its share of problems, they were best resolved through cooperation with Denmark -- "which is one of the wealthiest and most educated countries, for example in the field of healthcare. Not with the United States, which has its own healthcare system problems."
Trump has repeatedly said he believes the United States must control Greenland to ensure US national security.
Earlier threats he made to seize the territory, by force if necessary, have ebbed since he struck a "framework" deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to ensure greater US influence.
The defence minister, Lund Poulsen, told DR he was not aware of a possible arrival of the suggested US hospital ship. 
"Trump is constantly tweeting about Greenland. So this is undoubtedly an expression of the new normal that has taken hold in international politics," he said. 
cbw/thm/gv/rmb

science

New study probes why chronic pain lasts longer in women

BY MAGGY DONALDSON AND CHARLOTTE CAUSIT IN WASHINGTON

  • For decades women were excluded from clinical trials, and most pain studies analyzing animals only used males, Midavaine noted -- a medical bias that operated on the notion that female hormones created "too much variability."
  • To all the women who've heard the frustrating "it's all in your head" in response to medical maladies, a new study out Friday feels your pain.
  • For decades women were excluded from clinical trials, and most pain studies analyzing animals only used males, Midavaine noted -- a medical bias that operated on the notion that female hormones created "too much variability."
To all the women who've heard the frustrating "it's all in your head" in response to medical maladies, a new study out Friday feels your pain.
Research published in the journal Science Immunology shows that women actually do experience exacerbated chronic pain compared to men -- a gap that can be explained by biological differences in the immune system.
"The pain of women has been overlooked in clinical practice," lead author Geoffroy Laumet told AFP, "with the idea that it's more in the mind, or that it's because women are softer and more emotional."
"But here, our study shows that the difference is real... it's not a social construct. It has a real biological mechanism that is behind it."
Pain occurs when neurons react to stimuli: stubbing your toe, or tripping and skinning your knee, for example. 
But chronic pain persists with mild to no stimulation -- and women constitute 60 to 70 percent of the patients experiencing it, Laumet said.
The scientist at Michigan State University said his team set out to explore how hormone-regulated immune cells, known as monocytes, impacted pain resolution.
Researchers learned those monocytes play a key role in communicating with the neurons that sense pain -- and then working to shut down those pain-sensing neurons by producing the anti-inflammatory interleukin 10, or IL-10.
Their studies weren't originally aimed at exploring potential differences related to sex, but the data was clear: it took longer for pain to resolve in female mice, and the monocytes producing IL-10 were less active in them.
Those cells are more active in males, according to the study, which cited higher levels of sex hormones like testosterone as an explanation why.
Laumet is hopeful the new research could open new doors to improved pain treatment.
In the long-term, he said research can probe how to stimulate the monocytes and boost IL-10 production to "enhance the body's ability to resolve pain."
And in the short-term, he sees the potential for topical testosterone to prove a viable option to alleviate localized suffering.

'More equitable care'

Elora Midavaine -- a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who also studies chronic pain -- told AFP the new study adds "important nuance" to how we understand the interactions of hormones and the immune system, and their influence on pain.
Midavaine, who was not involved in the study, said it fits into a broader movement focused on intersections of neuroscience with both immunology and endocrinology -- an approach she said "has potential to advance our understanding of chronic pain in women."
Laumet said he hopes that improved understanding and potential new treatment avenues could reduce prescriptions of opioid painkillers, which have high risks of side effects and addiction.
And more broadly, both researchers voiced optimism that as our knowledge of women's health improves, they will receive better treatment.
"I hope that we can contribute to erase this common idea that women's pain is exaggerated," Laumet said. "The standard of care should be adapted to the sex."
But why has it taken so long to begin understanding the bodies of half the population?
For decades women were excluded from clinical trials, and most pain studies analyzing animals only used males, Midavaine noted -- a medical bias that operated on the notion that female hormones created "too much variability."
Diagnosis of pain relies almost wholly on reporting from patients -- and the symptoms of women are "often interpreted as emotional or mood-driven rather than rooted in biology," Midavaine said.
But "the landscape is changing," Midavaine said. "As the science advances, I believe it will help shift outdated cultural beliefs and lead to more equitable care for women."
mdo/msp

media

Zuckerberg grilled over underage users at social media trial

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  • - 'Right place now' - Zuckerberg was confronted with an internal document that said Instagram had four million users under 13 in 2015, at the time the plaintiff adopted the app, and that 30 percent of all children age 10 to 12, or "tweens," in the United States were users.
  • CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday he regretted Meta's slow progress in identifying underage users on Instagram, as he faced stinging criticism at a landmark social media trial over accusations that his company deliberately hooked children.
  • - 'Right place now' - Zuckerberg was confronted with an internal document that said Instagram had four million users under 13 in 2015, at the time the plaintiff adopted the app, and that 30 percent of all children age 10 to 12, or "tweens," in the United States were users.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday he regretted Meta's slow progress in identifying underage users on Instagram, as he faced stinging criticism at a landmark social media trial over accusations that his company deliberately hooked children.
Asked to comment on complaints from inside the company that not enough was being done to verify whether children under 13 were using the platform, the 41-year-old head of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, said improvements had been made.
But "I always wish that we could have gotten there sooner," he added.
Zuckerberg was the most hotly anticipated witness in the California trial, the first in a series of lawsuits filed by American families against social media platforms.
The trial marked the first time the multibillionaire addressed the safety of his world-dominating platforms directly before a jury and under oath.
Zuckerberg was very reserved at first, an AFP journalist in the courtroom reported. But he grew animated, showing signs of annoyance, shaking his head and waving his hands as he turned toward the jury.
The 12 jurors in Los Angeles heard the increasingly testy testimony as plaintiff lawyer Mark Lanier pressed Zuckerberg on age verification and the tycoon's guiding philosophy for making decisions at the vast social media company he controls.
During questioning by his own lawyers, a more relaxed Zuckerberg described time spent on the app as a "side effect" of a quality experience and often addressed the jurors directly to emphasize his points.
He also stressed his belief that Apple and Google, the companies behind operating systems powering most of the world's smartphones, should arrange for age verification at the handset level instead of leaving it to each app.
"Doing it at the level of the phone is just a lot clearer than having every single app out there have to do this separately," Zuckerberg said.
"It would be pretty easy for them."
Zuckerberg faced a barrage of internal emails, including warnings from colleagues that age verification was not fit for purpose and others that seemed to plainly display that encouraging more time spent on Instagram was long a central goal of the company.
The trial is set to last until late March, when the jury will decide whether Meta, as well as Google-owned YouTube, bear responsibility for the mental health problems suffered by Kaley G.M., a 20-year-old California resident who has been a heavy social media user since childhood.
Kaley G.M. started using YouTube at age six, Instagram at nine, then TikTok and Snapchat.
Under-13s are not allowed on Instagram, and Lanier pressed Zuckerberg on the fact that Kaley had easily signed up for the platform.

'Right place now'

Zuckerberg was confronted with an internal document that said Instagram had four million users under 13 in 2015, at the time the plaintiff adopted the app, and that 30 percent of all children age 10 to 12, or "tweens," in the United States were users.
Zuckerberg said that "we're in the right place now" when it comes to age verification.
Lanier went on to argue that young people like Kaley were subject to Meta's efforts to increase time spent on its wildly popular apps, despite Zuckerberg having told the US Congress under oath that this was not the case.
Faced with emails displaying internal targets for usage, Zuckerberg admitted that "we used to have goals around time," but that the company's aim was always to "build useful services" that connected people.
Zuckerberg was also read an old email from former head of public policy Nick Clegg that said "the fact that we say we don't allow under-13s on our platform, yet have no way of enforcing it, is just indefensible."
The trial is set to determine whether Google and Meta deliberately designed their platforms to encourage compulsive use among young people, damaging their mental health in the process.
The case is expected to establish a standard for resolving thousands of lawsuits that blame social media for fueling an epidemic of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and suicide among young people.
TikTok and Snapchat, also named in the complaint, reached settlements with the plaintiff before the trial began.
bl-arp-gc/msp

vaccines

In reversal, US agrees to review new Moderna flu shot

  • In the large trial Moderna had compared its new vaccine with Fluarix, an approved flu shot from the company GSK. Moderna said the rejection was "inconsistent with previous written communications" with the FDA. In a statement Wednesday Moderna's CEO, Stephane Bancel, said "we appreciate the FDA's engagement" in a "constructive" meeting the company had requested following the rejection.
  • Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration walked back its previous position and agreed to review the company's new mRNA-based flu shot.
  • In the large trial Moderna had compared its new vaccine with Fluarix, an approved flu shot from the company GSK. Moderna said the rejection was "inconsistent with previous written communications" with the FDA. In a statement Wednesday Moderna's CEO, Stephane Bancel, said "we appreciate the FDA's engagement" in a "constructive" meeting the company had requested following the rejection.
Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Wednesday the US Food and Drug Administration walked back its previous position and agreed to review the company's new mRNA-based flu shot.
Last week the US firm said the federal vaccine regulator rejected the application for review of the new shot, calling its clinical trial inadequate.
But Moderna said that after a "constructive" meeting the FDA had accepted the application for review based on a regulatory pathway focused on older adults.
The company's application now seeks full approval for adults 50 to 64 and accelerated approval for adults 65 and older, Moderna said in a statement. It also agreed to conduct an additional study after the shot hits the market.
The FDA's rejection had come as the body has called for a reconsideration of approval procedures for certain vaccines, including for influenza -- proposed federal policy changes under President Donald Trump that have triggered widespread alarm among public health and medical professionals.
The new shot uses mRNA technology, which health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a vocal vaccine skeptic, has criticized. He notably cut off federal research grants that funded mRNA development.
That contradicts Trump's position during his first presidential term, when he called mRNA technology a "modern-day miracle." 
It was used during the Covid-19 pandemic to swiftly develop an immunization that global health authorities deemed safe and effective against the fast-spreading illness. It was credited with saving millions of lives.
Moderna's new shot had already been accepted for review in the European Union, Canada and Australia.
Vinay Prasad, the top US vaccine official, had signed the letter rejecting Moderna's bid for approval, saying the company's clinical trial was not "adequate and well-controlled," and had not tested its experimental shot against the best product on the market.
In the large trial Moderna had compared its new vaccine with Fluarix, an approved flu shot from the company GSK.
Moderna said the rejection was "inconsistent with previous written communications" with the FDA.
In a statement Wednesday Moderna's CEO, Stephane Bancel, said "we appreciate the FDA's engagement" in a "constructive" meeting the company had requested following the rejection.
"Pending FDA approval, we look forward to making our flu vaccine available later this year so that America's seniors have access to a new option to protect themselves against flu."
Since Trump retook the White House, both he and health chief Kennedy have come under broad criticism from public health and medical experts for sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines widely known to be safe, and upending the pediatric immunization schedule.
mdo/sms

chemicals

Bayer proposes class settlement for weedkiller cancer claims

BY LOUIS VAN BOXEL-WOOLF

  • Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling thousands of cases linked to Roundup since it acquired its producer, the US agrichemical group Monsanto, in 2018.
  • German agrichemical giant Bayer said Tuesday its subsidiary Monsanto had proposed a class settlement of up to $7.25 billion to settle claims that the Roundup weedkiller causes blood cancer, potentially drawing a line under years of costly litigation.
  • Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling thousands of cases linked to Roundup since it acquired its producer, the US agrichemical group Monsanto, in 2018.
German agrichemical giant Bayer said Tuesday its subsidiary Monsanto had proposed a class settlement of up to $7.25 billion to settle claims that the Roundup weedkiller causes blood cancer, potentially drawing a line under years of costly litigation.
Under the proposed agreement, Monsanto would make a series of declining annual payments for up to 21 years, Bayer said, adding that the deal still required court approval.
Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling thousands of cases linked to Roundup since it acquired its producer, the US agrichemical group Monsanto, in 2018.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers glyphosate, one of Roundup's ingredients, a probable human carcinogen, but Bayer says scientific studies and regulatory approvals show the weedkiller is safe.
The US Supreme Court in January agreed to hear Bayer's appeal against an award of $1.25 million to a Missouri man who claimed Roundup was responsible for his blood cancer.
The company argues that it should be shielded from state lawsuits since the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the sale of Roundup to US consumers and farmers without any warnings.
Speaking at a press conference, Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said the class settlement was needed despite the possibility of a favourable Supreme Court judgement.
"A decision in our favour would address cases not covered by the settlement, including significant adverse pending judgments," he said.
"Plus, a favourable decision from the Supreme Court would both disincentivise and cover potential opt-outs," he added in a reference to those claimants who might reject the proposed settlement.
Bayer shares surged after the announcement and were the best performer on Germany's bluechip DAX index, up 7.35 percent.

'Broken' legal system

Getting the settlement through would mark a milestone for Bayer, which otherwise faces a potentially still long and expensive legal road.
About 67,000 Roundup cases are still outstanding and Anderson told the Wall Street Journal last year that Bayer might give up on Roundup, the world's most popular weedkiller, citing the cost of prolonged court battles.
Announcing that it had reached separate settlements for some Roundup cases as well as other disputes, Bayer said it was now setting aside 11.8 billion euros to pay for litigation in its business year to end September 2025, up from 7.8 billion previously.
Bayer expected litigation payouts of about five billion euros for 2026 "on a first estimate", it said, adding that it would delay announcing its financial results and 2026 guidance from February 25 to March 4.
The settlements did not contain or imply any admission of liability or wrongdoing, Anderson said, charging that the US legal system was "broken".
"Today's announcement does not take away from the truth, a truth that scientists and regulators around the planet continue to uphold, that glyphosate is safe and essential," he said.
"So while this settlement is necessary for the company today, we maintain our significant objections to the broken tort system that makes it necessary."
vbw/yad