Chemical Controversies
IARC cancer agency mounts PR effort as probe of possible corruption grows
The agency was heavily criticized for the methodology used in declaring the herbicide glyphosate a "probable carcinogen." Now IARC is ...
Hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse pulls neonicotinoid insecticides over bee health concerns
A controversial pesticide allegedly linked to bee deaths will be pulled from [Australian, New Zealand, and UK hardware store chain] Bunnings' ...
Tackling bees’ greatest threat: Lithium chloride could kill Varroa destructor mites without harming bees
A new study suggests that tiny doses of lithium chloride could be an easy and effective treatment for Varroa mites, ...
‘Organic GMOs’: Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak on how genetic engineering can reduce pesticide use and protect the environment
[Genetic engineering] is a powerful tool that can help us farm responsibly and sustainably by minimizing damage to the environment and ...
GMO water? ‘Raw water’ company falsely claims purified tap water ‘doesn’t have capacity to reproduce life’
The New York Times reported earlier this week on a new trend: "raw water." Several companies around the country are ...
Monsanto seeks Brazilian approval to test controversial weed-controlling dicamba herbicide-resistant GMO soy seeds
The Brazilian unit of seed and agrochemicals maker Monsanto on Thursday [Jan. 11] said it will run field tests with ...
Viewpoint: How Monsanto could end up profiting from dicamba herbicide drift fiasco
By mid-October, state departments of agriculture nationwide had received 2,708 complaints from soybean farmers who claimed their fields had been damaged by ...
Judge delays glyphosate lawsuit after study of 45,000 people finds no link to cancer
In October 2016, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated all federally-filed Roundup lawsuits into one court in ...
How artificial intelligence might solve the ‘chemical treadmill’ farmers are trapped in to kill crop-choking weeds
After months of research, they faced a disappointing truth: There was no way around herbicides. “Turns out zapping weeds with ...
Sri Lankan tea farmers want glyphosate herbicide ban overturned
Tea farmers in Sri Lanka want their government to reauthorize the use of glyphosate for agriculture. The country is one ...
Herbicides and fungicides could be key factors in bee health problems, study finds
Honey bees might be drawn to the very chemicals that are endangering them, based on experiments in which they preferred ...
Study: Pesticide residue on food as risky as drinking one glass of wine—every 7 years
Relatively few studies are available on realistic cumulative risk assessments for dietary pesticide exposure. Despite available studies showing low risk, ...
Blight-resistant GMO potatoes could reduce pesticide use in Uganda
Uganda is steadily progressing towards having a potato that will not require chemical spraying. ... According to Dr Alex Barekye, ...
Rethinking the pesticides–neonicotinoids–bee health crisis narrative: Why the media get it wrong
Are bees endangered because of the use of insecticides, and in particular the class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids, which ...
Despite 2014 EU ban, neonicotinoid insecticides still found in quarter of UK honey samples
Almost a quarter of British honey samples remain contaminated after a partial ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, new research has revealed ...
Herbicide-resistant ‘super weeds’? Don’t blame GMO crops, study says
Andrew Kniss is a professor of weed science at the University of Wyoming Genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant crops have been ...
Can online gamers help developing nations solve aflatoxin crop contamination?
Puzzle solvers at the website Fold.it, a crowdsourcing project, are being asked to look for new and efficient ways to ...
GM Arctic Apple promises to ‘dramatically reduce’ consumer food waste
I’m an apple loyalist—I pack one as an after-lunch snack nearly every day of the week. So I jumped at ...
Are seed patent protections abused by Monsanto and other agro-corporations?
Anti-GMO critics often claim major agricultural companies use seed patents to control farmers rights, which they say also limits innovation ...
Scientist raised next to sugarcane farm where controlled burning rampant explains ecological benefits of GMO sugar beets
In the early 90s, I lived in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, known for music, art, and its green Valle del Turbio. This ...
‘Cruel and inhumane for rich nations to deprive developing world of GMO technology’: Purdue president Mitch Daniels
Of the several claims of “anti-science” that clutter our national debates these days, none can be more flagrantly clear than ...
Banning glyphosate: France may replace well-tested herbicide with pelargonic and other more toxic ‘natural’ chemicals
Activists say glyphosate can be replaced with natural herbicides—but "natural" doesn't necessarily mean that they're safer or better for the ...
Phase out of GMO cotton in Burkina Faso taking increasing toll on farmers and industry
When cotton traders in Burkina Faso announced in 2015 that they were phasing out the cultivation of genetically modified cotton, they attributed ...
Fraudulent ‘organic’ food imports overwhelming USDA, investigation finds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture fails at regulation of organic food as fraudulent products overwhelm the agency’s conflicted, compromised system, ...
Global glyphosate herbicide ban would cause substantial damage to economy and environment, study shows
A new study finds that a ban on glyphosate would cause billions of dollars in economic losses and increase the ...
Canada proposes new limits—but no ban—on neonicotinoid insecticides to protect bees
The [Canadian] federal government has proposed tighter restrictions around two insecticides that are harmful to bees, but stopped short of ...
EPA reaffirms global scientific consensus that glyphosate herbicide does not cause cancer
The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Monday [Dec. 19] said glyphosate, the primary ingredient in the weed killer Roundup and ...