From his mid-teens, Kelvin McNickle began helping out in his family’s vegetation management business in Queensland. As part of the work, he regularly used the herbicide Roundup, sometimes ending the day saturated in the weedkiller despite using protective equipment. At 35, after 20 years of exposure to the glyphosate-based herbicide, McNickle developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma – cancer of the lymphatic system.
Now 40, McNickle is the lead applicant in a landmark class action against Monsanto, the chemical giant which was acquired by the German company Bayer in 2018. It involves more than 800 Australians with the condition, who allege their cancer is linked to their exposure to Roundup between July 1976 and July 2022.
