American agro-chemicals company Monsanto is facing a surge in lawsuits that may cost its new owners, Bayer, billions in damages.
Monsanto manufactures glyphosate-based weedkillers which some believe are carcinogenic.
Last month it lost a $289m (£225m) court case that alleged its products Roundup and RangerPro had led to a Californian man’s terminal cancer.
Bayer said the number of outstanding cases had risen from 5,200 to 8,000.