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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Food Evolution interview: Could ‘pro science’ documentary inspire a pro-GMO food movement?
Food Evolution director Scott Hamilton Kennedy talks with the Genetic Literacy Project about the film's funding, and challenges the "ruthless ...
Oyster crackers deception: Dissecting Westminster Bakers’ Non-GMO label scam
[Editor's note: James Cooper holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Ohio State University.] So what does that mean for oyster ...
Viewpoint: How the Monsanto-Bayer merger threatens livelihoods of rural America
[Writer Austin Frerick lives in Winterset, Iowa and is a former economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.] Iowa ...
Food Evolution director Scott Hamilton Kennedy: ‘I wanted to reset the debate’ over food and farming
Oscar-nominated director talks with the Genetic Literacy Project about the reaction his documentary has received, both from GMO critics and ...
House Democrats push for neonicotinoid insecticide ban in next farm bill
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) wants to include a ban on pesticides linked to declining bee health in next year’s farm ...
High cost of biotech seeds drives one farmer to switch some acreage to non-GMO
In 2014, [farmer Nathan] Reed fought for financial breath even after skinning inputs one by one...With an eye on cost ...
Indian scientist: Promoting ‘rich man’s’ organic food’ and delaying insect-resistant GMO eggplant hurts poor
Chairman of Review Committee for Genetic Manipulations (RCGM) Dr B Sesikeran ... said by stalling Bt brinjal [eggplant], India has only done more ...
Podcast: NY Times reports glyphosate in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. What’s the science?
Biologist David Oppenheimer, nutritionist Shelley McGuire: Pro-organic group's glyphosate analysis no substitute for peer-reviewed science ...
Why one anti-GMO farmer switched to genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant seeds
Greg Guenther is now an enthusiastic user of genetically modified seed, despite steering clear of it in the mid-1990s, having ...
Chipotle got rid of food with ‘scary-sounding chemicals’—So why are customers getting sick?
[Editor's note: Joseph Perrone is the Chief Science Officer at the Center for Accountability in Science.] [Spring 2017], Chipotle reinforced its ...
‘Chemicals’ not biggest threat to food safety—and 9 other myths about modern farming busted
Next time you’re at the grocery store, consider these 10 modern myths about the most ancient occupation. 4. A pesticide ...
Kenya could become first country to approve GMO bridal bouquet ‘baby’s breath’ flowers
Baby’s breath, a staple of bridal bouquets, could become Kenya’s first commercially grown genetically modified (GM) flower. By introducing genes ...
India’s cotton farmers turn to black market herbicide-tolerant GM varieties to improve yields
The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops with new transgenic traits such as herbicide tolerance (HT) is spreading fast in ...
How EU could make GMO crop regulations more scientific
In recent years, the EU legislation on genetically modified (GM) crops has come under severe criticism. Among the arguments are ...
Behind the NY Times glyphosate fiasco: Why anti-GMO activists turned on Ben & Jerry’s
The pile-on against Ben & Jerry's — "outed" for having traces of glyphosate in its ice creams — seems like ...
Agronomist: No amount of data will satisfy ‘anti-biotech extremists’ peddling precautionary principle
[Tim Durham is a professor of agronomy and agricultural science at Ferrum College in Virginia.] The [precautionary principle, or PP] ...
Studies claiming serious GMO crop risks published mostly in low quality journals and riddled with conflicts of interest, bad science
[Editor's note: Miguel Sanchez is Executive Director of ChileBio. Wayne Parrott is a professor of Crop Science at the University of ...
Parts per billion trace amounts of glyphosate herbicide found in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
A growing number of foods commonly found in kitchens across America have tested positive for glyphosate, the herbicide that is ...
Herbicide-tainted Ben & Jerry’s ice cream? NY Times falls for anti-science group’s dubious attack on glyphosate
The Organic Consumers Association uses junk science testing organization to claim ice cream contains trace parts-per-billion of glyphosate—at least tens ...
UK expected to follow EU policy on neonicotinoid insecticides
Newly proud “environmentalist” Michael Gove is promising to deliver a “green Brexit” which will set global gold standards on policies ...
Sri Lankan scientist: Glyphosate herbicide ban not supported by sound science, hurts tea farmers
[Editor’s Note: Parakrama Waidyanatha is a scientist and former Chairman of the Coconut Research Institute.] The grapevine whispered to me ...
Quebec’s plan to prohibit neonics and other pesticides upsets grain producers
Grain producers are not digesting the concept of pesticide regulation announced on [July 19] as part of the Quebec Pesticide ...
Chemist Derek Lowe: Panera Bread spreads misinformation on chemicals and food—yet again
[Editor's note: Derek Lowe is a Duke University-trained organic chemist.] [S]everal people alerted me to one of the latest ads ...
Lawsuit claims chemical companies ‘secretly’ encouraged illegal dicamba herbicide spraying
As suspected drift from dicamba took a toll on farmers the past two growing seasons, Monsanto ... publicly urged growers ...
10 ‘fake news’ unscientific buzzwords and health fads
[Editor's note: Alex Berezow is Senior Fellow of Biomedical Science at the American Council on Science and Health. He holds ...
Viewpoint: California activists ‘gamed system’ to get glyphosate herbicide labeled as carcinogen
Environmental activists found the perfect targets to help them defame the popular herbicide glyphosate — widely-accepted as safe — in ...
Bollworm resistance to Bt cotton problematic for southern farmers
From the Carolinas to Texas, the cotton bollworm is leading an assault on Bt cotton again [in 2017]. Growing resistance ...
