"An environmental activist group has filed a legal petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeking new rules that would enhance job protection for government scientists whose research questions the safety of farm chemicals.

The action filed on Thursday by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an advocacy group for local, state and federal researchers, came less than a week after a World Health Organization group found the active ingredient in Roundup, the world's best selling weed killer, is "probably carcinogenic to humans." Roundup is made by Monsanto Co.

The petition to the USDA presses the agency to adopt policies to prevent 'political suppression or alteration of studies and to lay out clear procedures for investigating allegations of scientific misconduct.'"

Carey Gillam reports for Reuters March 27, 2015. [2]