Lawsuits against Bayer are on the rise over claims that the company’s weedkiller causes cancer. The legal cases have taken a toll on Bayer’s share price and reputation.

More than 42,000 plaintiffs have joined lawsuits against German chemical giant Bayer, blaming the company’s glyphosate-based weedkiller for their cancer. 

The number of plaintiffs, largely brought by US citizens, is now at 42,700 — more than double the 18,400 reported in the middle of July, Bayer announced on Wednesday.

The legal cases all concern Roundup, a weedkiller with controversial active ingredient glyphosate.

“This significant increase is clearly driven by the plaintiff-side television advertising spend which is estimated to have roughly doubled in the third quarter compared with the entire first half of the year,” Bayer said in a statement.

“However, the number of lawsuits says nothing about their merits,” it added.

Claims against the company gathered momentum following a lawsuit in August 2018 that found Monsanto, a Bayer subsidiary, should have warned of alleged cancer risks associated with its glyphosate-based weedkillers.