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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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Monsanto played role in ‘independent’ safety review of glyphosate herbicide, emails show
Dozens of internal Monsanto emails, released on Aug. 1 by plaintiffs’ lawyers who are suing the company, reveal how Monsanto worked ...
Monsanto barred university researchers from testing ‘drift’ of its new dicamba herbicide — now accused of damaging crops
New versions of the herbicide dicamba developed by Monsanto and BASF, according to farmers, have drifted across fields to crops ...
Why do consumers prefer organic to conventional produce when both use pesticides?
What gets overlooked by [activist] groups are the reports from the USDA itself that show that even organic foods have ...
Did the National Cancer Institute withhold data showing no links between glyphosate and cancer?
The chairman of a congressional committee has asked the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explain why its National ...
Census shows monarch butterfly population not in decline, but scientists challenge findings, blaming milkweed loss
Monarch butterfly populations have taken a nosedive over the last 20 years, according to researchers who monitor the number of ...
Ecomodernist podcast: Food Evolution film about ‘confirmation bias’ in foodie and anti-GMO community
One of the more surprising reactions to the documentary--and disappointing to scientists--came from organic and agroecology supporters who called it ...
Scientists hoping to prevent two crop-eating caterpillar species from combining to form ‘super pest’
Australian-led research could help save the world's farmers more than $6 billion lost every year to its most voracious caterpillars ...
Central bee health threat—Varroa mite parasite—may be manageable using oregano oil
The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is responsible for the death of millions of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies worldwide. Testing ...
Viewpoint: Why the FDA should not be regulating genetically engineered animals (as drugs, no less)
[Editor's note: Henry Miller is founding director of the FDA's Office of Biotechnology. John Cohrssen is former counsel to the White ...
