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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Viewpoint: Indian PM wants farmers to switch to 50% organic. It would take at least 10 years, likely won’t work, and isn’t more sustainable
... Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided it was time to ask Indians to brace themselves for price shocks and other ...
Viewpoint: Why the retracted Monsanto glyphosate study doesn’t change the science—the world’s most popular herbicide is safe
In 2000, three researchers published a peer-reviewed paper concluding that, “under present and expected conditions of use,” Roundup, a formulation of ...
Viewpoint: How to counter science disinformation? Science journalist offers 12 practical tips
Science communications is not an easy task. You have to be comprehensive and concise, simplifying the message while not dumbing ...
GLP podcast: Big Pharma, Big Ag, Big Food—health harming industries or life-saving innovators?
Fossil fuels, pesticides and food processing have dramatically improved living standards around the globe. This may be a controversial claim, ...
Science Disinformation Gap: The transatlantic battle over social media and censorship
Every day, the same post appears in two places at once. A Facebook user in Munich sees it with a ...
‘Conflict entrepreneurs’ are driving disinformation and shaping public opinion
As brands battle for people’s attention, they no longer control their brand messages nor the ecosystem they exist in. Their ...
GLP podcast: ‘Safe injection sites’: enabling drug addiction or saving lives?
With illicit opioids still killing thousands of Americans each year, some public health advocates are pushing a radical solution to ...
Viewpoint — Food-fear world: The latest activist scientists campaign: Cancer-causing additives
Here we go again. The rather tiresome Activist Playbook is being applied again, this time not to pesticides, plastics, fossil ...
Paraben panic: How a flawed study, media hype, and chemophobia convinced the public of the danger of one of the safest classes of preservatives
Public opinion driven by fear has immense influence in our society, especially when it comes to science and health topics ...
‘Alarming’: Nicotine’s wellness rebranding
Nicotine - the highly addictive substance found in tobacco and vaping products - is being promoted online as a way ...
The myths of “process”: What science says about the “dangers’ of synthetic products and ultra-processed foods
Two words used to scare people are impossible to avoid: synthetic and its younger cousin, ultra-processed. They’re everywhere—on supermarket shelves, ...
GLP podcast: What’s wrong with ‘doomsday’ environmentalism? It’s false.
Ever notice how the environmental movement’s doomsday predictions arrive like clockwork, each one as urgent as the last? Mass starvation, ...
Running ‘wild’: Last year, RFK, Jr. was given a green light to ‘reform’ chemical policies. Glyphosate illustrates how Trump now has him on a tight leash, and MAHA is furious
Kennedy and Trump ... forged a unique coalition during the 2024 presidential campaign. As the face of the "Make America ...
Viewpoint: The herbicide glyphosate isn’t perfect. Banning it would be far worse.
For decades, farmers have relied on glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup and the most widely used herbicide in ...
EPA concludes glyphosate is not carcinogenic. Missouri courts say Monsanto failed to warn it might be. SCOTUS weighs in.
Plaintiffs have filed tens of thousands of lawsuits in state courts alleging that Monsanto’s Roundup weed-killer gave them cancer. The ...
Wellness influencer nonsense: No, nicotine does not boost cognition and productivity, but it can damage your health
If you spend any time on social media, you may have noticed a curious trend: wellness influencers singing the praises ...
MAHA’s special protein-focused formula for skin care: Beef tallow and salmon sperm. How could they be wrong?
From moisturizers made with beef tallow to salmon sperm facials, consumers have become more interested in animal-based skin care products ...
Gurus of woo: 9 health influencer superstars
Some work full time as scientists and physicians .... Others have no relevant credentials to speak of, and frequently disseminate ...
GLP podcast: Miracle drug? Tech bros inflate depression-fighting effects of psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT
The greater the media hype around psychedelics, the more skeptical you should be. A perfect example of why this skepticism ...
Fearing MAHA, Trump administration slows approval of safer types of PFAS and other critical chemicals
The Environmental Protection Agency is sitting on dozens of approvals for uses of “forever chemicals” at the direction of Administrator Lee Zeldin, ...
Will the MAHA movement save the GOP this fall — or help bury it? This man may be key
Tony Lyons knows how Republicans can win the midterm elections later this year. All they need to do, as he ...
Viewpoint — Influential sports scientists: ‘No evidence that organic food is healthier’
Dr. Mike Israetel, a sports scientist and professor with a PhD in kinesiology, recently appeared on The Rubin Report to ...
Reviewing the evidence on the benefits and dangers of glyphosate
President Trump recently signed an Executive Order that expands U.S. production of glyphosate, a herbicide contained in commercial and domestic ...
Viewpoint — RFK, Jr. vs. fluoride: The next big health brawl—science be damned
The EPA recently took its first step toward determining safe levels of fluoride in drinking water, publishing a "Preliminary Assessment ...
Why the herbicide glyphosate is key to sustainable agriculture
Here are some reasons why there could not be sustainable agriculture without herbicides like those containing glyphosate. Sustainable Farming: The ...
Netflix plastic documentary is scare nonsense packaged as science
Netflix, which has made simplified propaganda many times before (See: Dopesick), sticks to a familiar formula in a thoroughly slanted ...
GLP podcast: Overdose crisis—Illicit opioids spread like drug-resistant bacteria?
The harder the government cracks down on a drug, the more deadly its illicit replacement that emerges from the black ...
