Chemical Controversies
Pesticides are substances that prevent, destroy, repel, or reduce the severity of pests. Pests are living things that occur where they are not wanted or that cause damage to humans, crops, or animals. Pests can be insects, rodents, unwanted plants, bacteria, viruses, or different types of fungus. Pesticides can vary in how toxic they are to humans and the environment. Some are persistent in the environment, animals, and birds, lasting for years; others break down soon after they are released. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants licenses, or registrations, to pesticides that it has found do not pose unreasonable risks to human health and the environment; it has registered at least 865 pesticides, which are used in thousands of pesticide products.
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Crop scientist Kevin Folta on how to engage science deniers and anti-GMO activists
Since the 2016 presidential election, tensions in the political arena have spilled into the science world. Scientists have been notably ...
Pesticide seed treatments may decrease soil health, increase weeds, study finds
Use of seed coated with mixtures of fungicides and insecticides has exploded in recent years to protect most crops from ...
India may be forced to import more food if it doesn’t adopt biotech crops to increase yields
India is not keeping pace with its peers like China in adopting innovative farm technologies, especially biotechnology, a US embassy ...
Infographic: Why single out GMOs—one of many forms of crop modification—for labeling?
[Editor's note: Layla Katiraee is a scientist at Integrated DNA Technologies. She has a PhD in molecular genetics with a ...
‘GMOs Revealed’: Documentary series delivers familiar arguments from the fringe
Multi-part documentary series will be rolled out over nine days, offering familiar voices from the anti-GMO fringe ...
Viewpoint: Farmers not trapped into annually buying patented GMO seeds
[There] is one myth that often gets used as a criticism against genetic engineered crops. This myth usually takes the ...
Dicamba fiasco: Are Monsanto’s labels too restrictive and confusing for farmers?
Dicamba, sold under different brand names by BASF and DuPont, can vaporize under certain conditions and the wind can blow ...
Bayer-Monsanto merger faces delay as European regulators hone in on antitrust concerns, impact on farmers
Bayer AG’s takeover of Monsanto Co. faces deeper scrutiny from European antitrust regulators who say they have “serious doubts” about ...
Newly elected government poised to open door to GMOs in Kenya
Food security played a major role during the presidential campaign. The price of unga—our staple food of maize meal—had risen ...
Why trace pesticides found on food are not dangerous
There is no link between pesticide residues on food and disease. Period. You will find lots of people claiming the ...
Wine grapes case study: How modern crop management has led to dramatic reductions in pesticide use
[Editor's note: Steve Savage is a plant pathologist who has been working in agricultural technology for over 35 years.] Grapes grown ...
Using Freedom of Information Act to target biotech scientists boomerangs against anti-GMO activists
Teacher Stephan Neidenbach reflects on his experiences using--and being targeted by—Freedom of Information Act requests, the technique commandeered by US ...
Viewpoint: Netflix promotes anti-GMO films, suppresses legitimate science
Netflix has declined to carry the agriculture documentary called "Food Evolution", for reasons they refused to specify. ... Is the ...
Viewpoint: Democrats’ GMO labeling push is an embarrassment to pro-science progressives
A group of House Democrats, who called the proposed federal GMO labeling standards 'weak' and 'confusing,' are being urged not ...
10 unique GMO products and benefits, and more on the way
[Editor's note: Carol Lynn Curchoe is a scientist, teacher, consultant, advisor, and author.] [GMOs] have been used to benefit human ...
Could we control bee-killing Varroa mites by exploiting their genetic vulnerabilities?
Seemingly indestructible Varroa mites have decimated honeybee populations and are a primary cause of colony collapse disorder, or CCD. Michigan ...
Viewpoint: Netflix movie Okja stokes unwarranted GMO fears, promotes anti-science worldview
The film about a fictitious evil corporation called "Mirando" that genetically engineers dangerous "superpigs" for food encapsulates all of the ...
Viewpoint: Trump administration’s embrace of GMOs lets down American farmers
The [Trump] Administration claims that GMOs should be accepted on scientific grounds. And it says that its motivation for this ...
Why Scotts Miracle-Gro decided to phase out neonicotinoid insecticides
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. made an unusual move last year when the company announced it would remove a class of insecticides ...
Do organic and conventional farmers use similar amounts of pesticides?
[Editor’s note: This opinion column was written by Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center. It was ...
Lab study shows ‘no impact’ of thiamethoxam neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on mature bumblebees
In this experiment, we chronically exposed whole mature bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (2.4ppb ...
Indians split over Monsanto’s role in world agriculture
As Monsanto, the Creve Coeur-based seed and pesticide giant, prepares to merge with Germany’s Bayer, observers wonder how the marriage ...
Neil deGrasse Tyson on why we need GMOs
When it comes to food ... there is one topic that Tyson is constantly addressing: GMOs. Most recently, he discussed genetically modified ...
Banana wilt, GMOs and Food Evolution: Behind the scenes in Uganda profiling desperate plight of poor farmers
Despite claims by anti-GMO activists who say crop biotechnology mostly benefits big corporations, African farmers and poor people are the ...
Do pesticide seed treatments inadvertently promote weeds?
A researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire has received a $474,679 grant to ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate herbicide a safe method for Pakistani farmers to fend off weeds, boost yields
It is estimated that on an average 20-30 % crop losses are attributable to weed infestation and growth in Pakistan ...
Did Monsanto engineer campaign to get controversial 2012 Seralini rat study retracted?
A trove of internal documents from Monsanto, recently unsealed in a lawsuit against the agricultural biotech giant, has revealed the ...
