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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Does the herbicide glyphosate cause cancer? The GLP does a deep dive into the science
Glyphosate--an herbicide pioneered by Monsanto but now off patent--has emerged as a proxy for critics of crop biotechnology and intensive ...
European scientist: WHO’s IARC faces scrutiny over glyphosate cancer designation
One of the World Health Organization's cancer research bodies faces increasing criticism because of its questionable categorizations of numerous safe ...
EPA: Dow’s Enlist Duo combining glyphosate and 2,4-D herbicides poses no serious safety concerns
Enlist Duo containing the choline salt of 2,4-D and glyphosate was first registered in 2014 for use in Genetically Engineered ...
How to save Monarch butterflies? Banning glyphosate and planting milkweeds won’t help
According to activists, the decline of the Monarch butterfly population is primarily due to the over application of the popular ...
WHO’s cancer agency claims “transparency”, moves to block glyphosate Freedom of Information requests
The World Health Organization's cancer agency [IARC]--which is facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens--advised academic experts ... who worked ...
Is EPA’s registration review of glyphosate being delayed for political reasons?
The Environmental Protection Agency appears to be punting a final decision on the safety of a controversial weedkiller into the ...
Weed scientist—Herbicide use increasing most rapidly in non-GE crops not paired with glyphosate
[Editor's note: Dr. Andrew Kniss is a weed scientist at the University of Wyoming. He co-authors the Weed Control Freaks ...
Australian chemical agency joins EPA, Canada, Europe in rejecting IARC’s glyphosate cancer claim
Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which serves as the country's chemical regulatory agency, has concluded that the herbicide glyphosate ...
Will US cut off support for WHO’s IARC over pilloried glyphosate cancer report?
Regulatory agencies in the US, Europe and most recently Australia have concluded that the International Cancer Research Agency botched its ...
Glyphosate in wine and cereal? Why dubious detection methods undermine GMO scare claims
Two NGO commissioned studies found parts per billion concentrations of glyphosate in wine and oatmeal. Are these findings cause for ...
Swiss parliament: No scientific justification for glyphosate ban
The House of Representatives has rejected a petition from various organisations such as Greenpeace and the Consumers’ Association for French-speaking ...
European Food Safety Authority will release glyphosate assessment data
EFSA is to release the raw data used in the recent EU safety evaluation of glyphosate, saying the move is ...
Four expert panels say data don’t support IARC’s classification of glyphosate as carcinogenic
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a monograph in 2015 concluding that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to ...
IARC accused of selectively excluding ‘best’ scientists from glyphosate review
To scientists... what was really alarming was [the IARC] finding that the pesticide glyphosate, the main ingredient in the common product ...
Talking Biotech: Cell biologist, author Iida Ruishalme on glyphosate safety, dangers
Cell biologist, author and Thoughtscapism founder Iida Ruishalme's comprehensive assessment of glyphosate ...
Glyphosate herbicide in vaccines? Here is what concerned parents should know
Scientists say Moms Across America glyphosate-vaccine study methods don't reveal anything about herbicide ...
IARC assessment of glyphosate only served to confuse policy makers, public
On March 20, 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) labeled glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide in the world, ...
Talking Biotech: University of Florida’s Kevin Folta on fear-mongering claims of glyphosate-in-vaccines, food
University of Florida's Kevin Folta refutes fear-mongering claims of glyphosate in vaccines and food ...
Glyphosate found in US honey
The Food and Drug Administration, under public pressure to start testing samples of U.S. food for the presence of a ...
Delayed by IARC designation, EPA glyphosate reassessment punted to next administration
For anyone who thought EPA’s glyphosate risk assessment would arrive sometime soon, think again. The new target is for the ...
Farmers struggling to counter activist demonization of safe herbicide glyphosate
Is agriculture reacting to the GMO debate when we should be focusing on protecting glyphosate? These are questions we need ...
Members of Congress want answers on EPA’s delayed evaluation of glyphosate
When Congress reconvenes [in September], lawmakers will continue to press the Environmental Protection Agency about why it’s withholding their report ...
How should we evaluate impact of substituting glyphosate for more toxic herbicides?
A new paper was just published in the journal Science Advances that analyzes pesticide use data for farmers in the U.S. . . The authors['s] ...
Europe’s battle over glyphosate ‘was never about science’
André Heitz is an agronomist and a former international civil servant for the United Nations. . . . [T]he European Commission ...
Environmental Protection Agency in New Zealand finds ‘no glyphosate-cancer link’, rebukes WHO’s IARC
A new report on glyphosate [patented originally under the trade name Roundup], commissioned by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), says ...
WHO IARC reviewer reiterates no health concerns for glyphosate safe ‘if used as directed’
A leading Canadian public health official has commended New Brunswick's review of a controversial herbicide . . . Dr. John McLaughlin, ...
Internal conflict in French government affecting EU policy on glyphosate, other agrochemicals
A duel in the . . . French government is shaking up Europe’s food and farming sector, turning the Continent’s political ...
