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: Concerned whether pesticides in the environment are safe? Listen to hands-on experts, not ideologues
Few environmental issues are more controversial than the potential danger of pesticides used to tame weeds and disease in crops ...
‘It’s not a eureka solution’: RFK, Jr.’s NIH kills funding for future COVID vaccines to support controversial longshot ‘universal’ shot
In a shift away from next-generation Covid-19 vaccines, the Trump administration is investing $500 million in a vaccine project championed ...
Viewpoint: More a vibe than a coalition—RFK, Jr. rose to popularity with the support of gadflies, conspiracists and crystal healers. Are they turning on him?
After the Senate voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, supporters of his “Make ...
GLP podcast: ‘Industrial’ food is very nutritious; Porn might be harmful; Love of music is (partially) in your genes
This week on Facts and Fallacies, a farmer and plant geneticist refutes activist claims that modern agriculture drastically reduces nutrient ...
No, farmers who use agricultural chemicals do not have higher cancer rates
There is now scientific consensus that pesticides cause cancer among farmers. This conclusion has been confirmed by the courts insofar ...
Viewpoint: Dark money funded Organic Consumers Association close to dissolution. Good riddance to a science embarrassment
The Organic Consumers Association, the embarrassing stepchild of the organic industry founded by the late Ronnie Cummins in 1998, has a positive-sounding ...
The ‘fertilization president’ guts CDC IVF research
The elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance team ... shocked public health experts ...
Taking a fresh look at the positives and negatives of genetically modified crops
[T]he vast majority of GMOs grown in the U.S. are "engineered to produce their own pesticides, or survive direct application ...
Trying to kick your vaping habit: FDA approves pill that actually works
Teens and young adults who took varenicline — an FDA-approved, twice-daily smoking cessation pill for adults — are more than ...
Viewpoint: Despite global risk agencies declaring glyphosate safe, tort lawyer attacks raise concerns about the future of the herbicide and its manufacturer, Bayer
In a quiet but seismic signal to the global agri-food industry, Bayer is warning it may halt the production of ...
GLP Spaces on X: End public science funding—sensible policy or sheer madness?
Is it time to eliminate public funding for scientific research? It's an undeniably radical proposal, but one supporters say is ...
2000%? RFK, Jr. claims that chronic disease in the U.S. has skyrocketed in 20 years. Here’s why that’s absurd
“We’ve got the highest chronic disease burden of any country in the world. When my uncle was president, 3 percent ...
![Viewpoint: Why does ‘Big Organic’ oppose hydroponics and other sustainable farming innovations? [Hint: $$$]](https://geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-27-at-10.52.43 PM-263x129.png)
Viewpoint: Why does ‘Big Organic’ oppose hydroponics and other sustainable farming innovations? [Hint: $$$]
I get pitches for stories every day and sometimes I want to see if the world that opposes science has ...
Air is a major conveyor of microplastics—and some of it is ending up in our bodies through the food we eat
Plastic production is increasing sharply. This has raised concerns about the effects of microplastics (typically defined as plastic particles smaller ...
Leveraging RFK, Jr. vaccine disinformation, anti-vaccine grifters blame measles on bioweapons, sell fake ‘AI created’ supplement cures
Anti-vaccine activists with close ties to US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are falsely claiming that the measles public health ...
Off-patent chemistry: Financially strapped American farmers switching to generic crop chemicals
U.S. farmers struggling with slumping incomes and depressed grain prices have been switching to cheaper generic pesticides and fungicides as ...
GLP podcast: Common sense ‘out the window.’ Whistleblower Jamie Reed challenges safety, efficacy of ‘gender-affirming care’
We've all heard the claims about gender-affirming care. The effects of puberty blockers are reversible; most experts agree that medically ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture that does not include the judicious crop chemicals to fight insects and disease is doomed to fall way short
The Noble Research Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to farm and ranch education, defines regenerative agriculture as “the process of restoring ...
Viewpoint: Food dyes? Herbicides? Vaccines? … Water? Yes, they are all toxic depending upon the circumstances so beware of scare claims
We are back at it with the next edition of Fundamental Elements, a new section of ImmunoLogic. The goal? Break ...
How agricultural drones offer farmers a sustainable edge
Traditional farming tools — big tractors, crop dusters, and lots of human labor — are expensive, inefficient, and hard on ...
Viewpoint: Here’s how Environmental Working Group’s Carey Gillam, Le Monde and the Oak Foundation destroy reputations while promoting the tort industry
The small media and political monitoring company v-Fluence – also known for one of its products, Bonus Eventus – has been the target ...
Viewpoint: Junk science—The corrupting dangers of predatory journals, absent peer review and ideologically-tainted research
Unfortunately, junk science is quite common. Myriad systemic pressures have led to this point, but we now must face the ...
Viewpoint—Undermining science: RFK, Jr.’s war on expertise
During the Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, it became clear that the man nominated by Donald Trump to become ...
Food and beverage companies are overhauling their brands as RFK, Jr.’s ‘transparency campaign’ escalates
For food and beverage companies, complying with additive bans is no longer just about ticking boxes – it is a ...
GLP spaces on X: Graying Lady—How the New York Times and other outlets lost America’s trust
The public's faith in journalism has cratered over the last two decades. "Americans continue to register record-low trust in the ...
The Longevity Business Is Booming—and Its Scientists Are Clashing”
[Leonard Guarente's pet field of improving human longevity] has moved from the fringes to science’s hot center. It’s drawn billions ...
Viewpoint: Another top NIH food scientist quits, citing RFK, Jr.’s political interference and science censorship
The National Institutes of Health's top researcher on ultra-processed foods announced Wednesday he was stepping down from the agency, accusing ...
