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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What does USDA organic label really mean? WaPo investigation finds imported corn and soy often mislabelled
A shipment of 36 million pounds of soybeans sailed late [2016] from Ukraine to Turkey to California. Along the way, ...
Federal judge rules EPA did not consider potential impact of neonicotinoids on insects besides bees
A Minnesota beekeeper has won a round against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a protracted lawsuit over a ...
India expected to approve 3 indigenously developed varieties of insect-resistant GMO Bt cotton
The government is expected to soon allow commercial release of three genetically modified (Bt) and indigenously developed varieties of cotton ...
‘Naturalistic fallacy’: Explaining anti-GMO—anti-vaccine ideological and financial links
Both the anti-GMO movement and the anti-vaccine movement are predicated on the myth that "natural" is better. They also share ...
GMO disease fighters: Zika-destroying GM mosquitoes may soon be joined by GM moths to quash cabbage and kale pest
A half-inch-long moth that devours kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts may not inspire the same fear as a Zika-carrying mosquito, but ...
Varroa mites—‘leading culprit’ of honey bee losses—hitchhike to nearby hives to spread disease
As the managed honey bee industry continues to grapple with significant annual colony losses, the Varroa destructor mite is emerging ...
CRISPR race: Gene editing’s lower costs, regulations open door to more competition, improved crops
Monsanto ... is investing in gene editing in an effort to keep an edge over rival suppliers of high-tech crop seeds ...
US Right to Know calls Canadian researcher and university Monsanto ‘sock puppets’ — But finds no financial ties
The University of Saskatchewan and one of its well-known professors are acting like "sock puppets" for agri-business giant Monsanto, says ...
Do real farmers think of Monsanto as ‘the oppressor’?
[Editor's note: Michelle Miller, known on social media as the Farm Babe, is an Iowa-based farmer, public speaker and writer ...
How a permanent ban on neonicotinoid insecticides would impact UK farmers
The world’s most widely used insecticides could be banned for use on all field crops [in 2017], if proposals are ...
CRISPR Chardonnay? Gene-edited grapes could fend off mildew, reduce pesticide use
Chardonnay is among the most popular and recognizable wines in the world. The grape’s genes essentially have been passed down ...
Infographic: Global GM crops reduced farm chemical usage and CO2 emissions in 2016 boom year
[T]he International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released its annual report showcasing the 110-fold increase in adoption ...
How ‘chemophobia’ links Food Babe to Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’
Over fifty-four years since it was first published, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring remains a divisive book. The exposé led to ...
Bangladesh’s embrace of GMO technology may embolden innovation in developing countries
Bangladesh's successful application of biotechnology and development of its own GM crops could serve as a model for other developing ...
Dow Chemical tripled lobbying since 2008, outstripping other agricultural and biotech firms
Dow Chemical has poured money into lobbying efforts over the last decade as other corporate giants have remained steady or ...
Cargill’s Non-GMO Project partnership highlights food companies’ ‘unwillingness to educate consumers’
[Editor's note: Julie Gunlock is a policy director at the Independent Women's Forum and runs the organization's Culture of Alarmism ...
Do farming and chemicals hurt overall honey bee health? Much the opposite, concludes independent study
While recent media reports have condemned a commonly used agricultural pesticide as detrimental to honey bee health, scientists with the ...
Nobel Laureate Sir Richard Roberts’ $4 billion dollar solution: GM moths could fight cabbage and broccoli pest, reduce insecticide use
The deadline to submit comments to the USDA on the proposed field trial of the GM diamondback moth is nearing, ...
Trolls and shills: How disinformation sites InfoWars, Natural News and US Right to Know manufacture fake news
Lawyers suing Monsanto say the company pays people to defend it online, without citing any evidence to back up the ...
Talking Biotech: Genetic engineering’s role in breeding more disease resistant and nutritious potatoes
Michigan State's David Douches builds a better potato combining genetic engineering and traditional breeding ...
Former Boulder, Col mayor: Only people propagating threats and distortions are anti-GMO organizers
I recently read results of a survey in which 57 percent of respondents reported feeling "strongly" about an issue, yet ...
Superbug antibiotic backlash? Let’s review the science
Don’t call it a war on superbugs. That’s the latest advice from international public health experts who have been watching ...
‘Follow the money’: Why the organic industry funds anti-GMO campaigns
Everything we eat has had their genes modified by humans at some point in history, and nothing we eat exists ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide may reduce wild bumblebee queens’ egg development, lab study finds
Use of a common pesticide in spring could have an impact on wild bumblebees by interfering with their life cycle, ...
UK government advisors: Farmers’ emergency application for neonicotinoid insecticide use should be refused
The National Farming Union’s (NFU) application for an emergency authorisation for neonicotinoid seed treatments is not looking hopeful as Government ...
Uganda’s science march reveals love, frustration of young scientists
Student scientists join global march in support of science, offer their thoughts on where things stand in Uganda ...
Camera-equipped drones may soon detect plant disease before any visible signs
Researchers are developing drones that could detect plant disease before any visible signs show, allowing farmers to stop infections in ...
