The cherry blossoms were in full bloom this week in Seattle - a perennial marker of the promise of spring but also a cultural reminder of the fragility of life, carrying their pink and white petals for only a week or two.

With the blossoms as a backdrop, a group of international scientists gathered the last week of March at the University of Washington to participate in a “glyphosate symposium” aimed at protecting public health from a pesticide so ubiquitous it is commonly found in food, water and human urine. The scientists examined a range of research conducted over the last decade exploring how exposure to glyphosate weed killers such as Roundup impact human health.

Their findings came as little surprise - echoing to a great degree the 2015 findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans, but finding even more evidence of harm now.

“Sometimes when people talk about the harms from environmental chemicals and exposures, they refer to it as black or white, meaning it’s hazardous or it’s not hazardous, and sometimes it is in the middle area - a gray area,” said Chris Portier, a former US government scientist and toxicology expert who participated in the symposium. “This is not gray. Glyphosate is in the black - it is definitely harmful to human populations.”

In an expert statement issued March 27, the scientists said the evidence showing glyphosate herbicides can harm human health “is now so strong that no additional delays in regulation of glyphosate can be justified.”

“Agencies should act without further delay to limit their use, or eliminate them if legally required, to protect public health,” the scientists said in their statement.

Participating scientists included experts affiliated with multiple US universities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, as well as experts from Europe and Canada.

The full findings of the group, which included specialists in epidemiology, toxicology, cancer and risk assessment, will be detailed in a peer-reviewed paper the group plans to publish later this year.

Many of the scientists who gathered in Seattle this week were skeptical that their work would mean much in a world where regulators seem to pay more attention to the needs of powerful corporations than to threats to public health.

But as I left the symposium to head back to my home in Kansas, I reflected on the Japanese reverence for the cherished cherry blossoms, which they call sakura. Along with being a symbol of the impermanent, fleeting nature of life, sakura is also said to be associated with fresh starts and hopeful expectations.

As science solidifies around environmental contaminants that are causing cancer and other health problems, we all should be hoping for that fresh start.

You can read more of the story at The New Lede.

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