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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European Commission seeks 5 to 7 year renewal of glyphosate herbicide—down from 10
The European Commission will seek to extend the license of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide — for between five ...
Jon Entine podcast: Corruption and secrecy behind IARC’s glyphosate cancer designation?
Glyphosate has been in the headlines for two weeks. Here's a background interview with the GLP's executive director explaining the ...
Glyphosate levels in Californians’ urine increased in last 20 years—no adverse health effects shown
Levels of the herbicide Roundup in human urine have increased dramatically among California residents in the past two decades, a ...
Is organic really better for the environment than conventional agriculture?
As the total global population continues to rise and economic growth drives a transition towards more resource-intensive diets, a growing ...
Glyphosate-gate: Policy and science implications of IARC’s ‘predetermined’ cancer finding
Where high-stakes issues involve powerful beliefs, financial reward and opportunities for advancement, neither individuals nor agencies can be assumed to ...
Monsanto sues Arkansas Plant Board for restricting dicamba herbicide use
A major agribusiness company sued Arkansas regulators ... for banning its version of an herbicide that's drawn complaints from farmers across several ...
European Parliament votes to ban glyphosate by 2022 in non-binding vote
Ban household use now, agricultural use by end 2022 Risk assessments by the EU Commission must be made public EU ...
Viewpoint: Anti-pesticide activists exploit chemical testing technology to scare public
One religious group forecast an apocalypse a few weeks ago. They used the Bible as their source. More recently, a newer religion ...
Talking Biotech: Uganda farmer-scientist on benefits of GMO disease resistant bananas
Kevin Folta in Uganda interviews scientists and farmers about bananas resistant to crop disease and the likelihood of commercialization ...
Activist case that glyphosate herbicide causes cancer mired in scandal
A perfectly useful herbicide could be banned in Europe thanks to a tangled network of lobbyists, lawyers and activists. … ...
Glyphosate, IARC and politics: ‘We need a more honest debate’
Glyphosate is one of the most hotly-debated herbicides of the modern era. Many of the arguments against the popular weed-killer ...
Bayer to allow public access to pesticide safety information
[Editor's note: Adrian Percy is the Global Head of Research and Development for Crop Science, a Division of Bayer.] After ...
Why ChemChina’s Syngenta takeover doesn’t mean China will quickly embrace GMO crops
The head of one of China’s biggest chemicals companies has played down expectations the country will become more open to ...
IARC bombshell: WHO cancer agency ‘edited out’ draft findings glyphosate non-carcinogenic
The World Health Organization's cancer agency dismissed and edited findings from a draft of its review of the weedkiller glyphosate ...
‘Ecological Armageddon’? Three-quarters of flying insects in Germany vanished in 25 years, study claims
The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study.... Insects ...
Understanding honeybee deaths: Close to 100% of Massachusetts’ hives infected by viruses
The honey bee population is on the decline, and bee experts want to know why, so the State Department of ...
Will EPA’s new restrictions on dicamba herbicide quell drift problems?
On the back of drift complaints, the filing of class-action lawsuits and, most recently, new EPA requirements for dicamba-tolerant crops, Monsanto continues to ...
John Deere acquires precision ag technology that could reduce pesticide use by 90 percent
Tractor giant John Deere just spent $305 million to acquire a startup that makes robots capable of identifying unwanted plants, ...
Insects can build resistance to Bt crops in as little as five years, study shows
While organic farmers have used Bt proteins in sprays successfully for more than half a century, some scientists feared that ...
Genetic engineering and gene silencing could fight deadly crop mycotoxins—if not blocked by activists
Aflatoxins are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses annually. Farmers have struggled to control the troublesome ...
French grain farmers’ union opposes glyphosate ban, calling herbicide ‘essential’
With France set to vote against EU glyphosate re-registration this month, a group of French farmers have said they will ...
Viewpoint: Do neonic traces found in world honey pose problems to bees or humans?
The last taste of honey you enjoyed likely came from bees exposed to neonicotinoids, the world’s most widely used class ...
Reinstatement of pesticide glyphosate use in Bermuda stirs protestors’ concerns
Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works [on the island of Bermuda] announced that his ministry would be granted ...
Viewpoint: Christopher Portier—well-paid activist scientist at center of the ban-glyphosate movement
Christopher Portier, special adviser to the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, is bringing down the reputation ...
Viewpoint: Many fears around ‘processed foods’ not based on science
[Most] of us don’t have a clear understanding of what “processed food” means. Many foods we like to think of ...
Talking Biotech: How Africa can move beyond subsistence farming
World Food Program's Bret Rierson: Inexpensive storage options could dramatically help developing world farmers manage, store and sell surplus crops, ...
Viewpoint: Should US be subsidizing organic farming when label seems increasingly meaningless?
Congress is considering tripling the budget for the USDA's organics program. Should we be asking for more answers from regulators ...
