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: 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 ...
Monsanto, other seed developers invest in gene editing in hopes of sidestepping GMO fears
Seed developers including Monsanto Co. and DowDuPont Inc. have invested in gene-editing technology, which enables scientists to make precise changes ...
More evidence parasitic Varroa destructor mite poses most serious threat to bee health
[Editor’s note: Karen Rennich is the Project Manager for Bee Informed Partnership and APHIS National Survey, working out of University ...
Monsanto settles GM cotton royalties dispute with Indian seed firms
Three leading Indian cotton seed makers have settled an intellectual property dispute with Monsanto Co over its genetically modified (GM) ...
Viewpoint: EU’s glyphosate reauthorization should depend on science, not precaution
[Editor’s note: Pieter Cleppe is the head of the Brussels office of Open Europe, a non-partisan and independent policy think ...
10 truths about GMOs, organics and modern farming
As the debate over GMOs has gone viral, city-dwellers often position themselves as experts on farming. But there's often a ...
Viewpoint: Dannon’s transition to non-GMO has hurt image as sales decline
[Editor’s note: Michelle Miller is the Farm Babe, is an Iowa-based farmer, public speaker and writer, who lives and works ...
Glyphosate herbicide negatively affects soil-friendly bacteria, study shows
Cornell researchers found negative consequences of the weed-killing herbicide glyphosate on pseudomonas, a soil-friendly bacteria [read the full study here] ...
Viewpoint: Self-interest, rather than ignorance, key driver in GMO and climate change rejectionism
GMO opponents and climate change deniers often share a common characteristic -- their actions and decisions are driven by the ...
Disease-resistant GMO tomato that could eliminate need for copper pesticides blocked by public fears
Field trials have shown that a disease-resistant GMO tomato variety eliminates the need for copper pesticides that pollute soil and ...
Viewpoint: Climate change, pesticides endanger monarch butterfly populations
The life cycle of the monarch hinges on the availability of milkweed, but the prevalence of the herbicide Roundup has ...
Conventional agriculture holds multiple ecological advantages over organic, analysis shows
Conventional farming outperforms organic in several key measures -- particularly crop yield, according to a meta analysis of 164 research ...
Ben and Jerry’s announces organic dairy line in Europe, pledges ‘no glyphosate traces’
Ben & Jerry’s has moved to cut all glyphosate-tainted ingredients from its production chain and introduce an “organic dairy” line ...
Despite drift issue, Monsanto sees ‘surge’ of farmers buying dicamba-resistant GMO soybean seeds
Monsanto Co. posted a surprise fourth-quarter profit and said it still expects a surge in sales of a controversial line ...
Kevin Folta looks back 5 years after release of controversial Séralini GMO rat study
The heavily criticized and retracted paper linked GMO consumption and glyphosate exposure to cancer in rats. The brouhaha that erupted ...
India investigating reports of cotton farmers growing unapproved improved Monsanto GMO variety
A top Indian cotton-producing state has ordered an inspection of fields planted with an unapproved variety of genetically modified seeds ...
Talking Biotech: Can we fight herbicide-resistant weeds with non-GMO RNAi technology?
Monsanto biochemist Doug Sammons: RNAi technology increases weed sensitivity to targeted herbicides. This could counter the growing problem of glyphosate-resistant ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate herbicide’s ‘tough year’ could get much worse
Monsanto’s flagship weed killer, Roundup, has had a tough year. And it could get worse. With Roundup at the center ...
Crops and chemicals: What does the future hold for GMOs and pesticides?
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Paul Vincelli, a plant pathology professor at the University of Kentucky.] Farmers are ...
Do GMOs, pesticides cause cancer? The Amish would say ‘no’
Amish farmers may not get cancer as much, but it's not because they don't use pesticides or GMOs. In fact, ...
State bans of dicamba herbicide could increase soybean, cotton prices
Efforts to ban the herbicide [dicamba] could benefit the prices of agricultural products such as soybeans and cotton. At the ...
EU delays vote on whether to extend license for glyphosate herbicide
Health experts from European Union countries [were] expected to discuss whether or not to extend the license for herbicide glyphosate ...
Trace amounts of neonicotinoid pesticides found in 75% of honey samples worldwide—’far below’ levels dangerous to humans
A new study has found traces of neonicotinoid chemicals in 75% of honey samples from across the world. The scientists ...
Guided evolution of wheat and other grains could feed growing population
Can we breed wheat and other cereal grains with the ability to fertilize themselves? Researchers report promising results that could ...
Are ‘free-from’ (gluten, GMO) food labels informative—or misleading?
What could be conceptually simpler than labeling a food product? You tell the customers what’s in the product, or maybe ...
UK environmental groups ramp up effort to ban ‘bee-harming’ neonicotinoids
Environmental group Friends of the Earth has released a YouGov survey showing that over three quarters of the UK public ...
Brazil regulator says Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto could be ‘detrimental to competition’
A unit of Brazil’s competition regulator Cade said the $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co. by German life sciences firm ...
