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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Is the US unwittingly funding anti-agriculture and anti-Monsanto conspiracy theories?
There is an organization that is using [US] tax dollars and they have replaced fact-based science with conspiracy theories and ...
Monsanto is changing the way people eat — Using traditional breeding to make better fruits and vegetables
Monsanto is no one-trick GMO pony. Founded in 1901, the agricultural biotech company has fueled innovations in herbicides, pesticides, and ...
Should Trump scrap USDA’s National Organic Program?
Federal subsidizing of organics has health as well as economic consequences. Many consumers now believe that organic food is healthier, ...
Will CRISPR plant breeding be used for good — Or mostly to drive corporate profit?
This rapid-fire timing [of agribusiness mergers] may have been a coincidence, but it also may be a sign of what’s ...
Will rusty patched bumble bee’s endangered listing become a legal weapon for anti-development activists?
[Editor's note: Paul Driessen is a policy adviser for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow.] Trump’s Interior Department opened a ...
Biodiversity on the farm: It’s more complicated than you might think
[Editor's note: William Price is a statistician in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho ...
Agriculture’s Big Data revolution increases efficiency, reduces food waste from farm to table
[A]bout a third of food produced is lost or wasted every year. Globally, that’s a $940 billion economic hit. Inefficiencies ...
After warning label victory, California activists push for a glyphosate herbicide ban
[A]fter a yearlong legal battle, California’s environmental health agency has announced that it will list it as a known carcinogen ...
Agricultural biotechnology regulations are a mess — Here’s how Trump can unshackle innovation
For ideological or political reasons unsupported by data, and drawing on risk paradigms decades out of date, the US imposes ...
Will China relax GMO cultivation restrictions in wake of Syngenta takeover?
Although China imports preapproved GM foods, the agriculture ministry has never approved a biotech food crop—other than papaya, a minor ...
Herbicide use has increased more for non-GMO crops than genetically engineered varieties
[Editor's note: Andrew Kniss is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Wyoming.] Herbicide use is ...
‘Refuge planting’: How farmers could help slow developing insect resistance to GMO Bt crops
To date ... Bt crops have been remarkably successful. However, insect pests have shown the ability to evolve resistance to ...
Ayman Jallad: Mysterious Syrian-Lebanese businessman funds anti-GMO activist network in Europe
Ayman Jallad has two battles on his hands. The Syrian-Lebanese businessman is in the challenging business of selling imported Caterpillar ...
Neonicotinoid insecticides in trace level parts per trillion detected in drinking water in Iowa
[A] team of chemists and engineers at the [U.S. Geological Survey] and University of Iowa reported that they found neonicotinoids ...
Video: Genetic engineering could help African farmers increase yields without expensive fertilizers
In this video by Robert Hazen of the [Cornell] Alliance for Science, scientists from the Engineering Nitrogen Symbiosis for Africa ...
Inexperienced hobbyist beekeepers ‘major driver’ of honey bee colony losses in Europe
Reports of honey bee population decline has spurred many national efforts to understand the extent of the problem and to ...
California v EPA: Legal challenge possible over Prop 65 labeling of herbicide glyphosate as carcinogenic
Monsanto officially lost its fight to avoid a Prop 65 warning label on its products containing glyphosate, a chemical used ...
Does National Institutes of Health fund ‘scientifically questionable’ European cancer groups?
The NIH and top official Linda Birnbaum face questions from a Congressional oversight committee about US funding of European cancer ...
Next generation insect-resistant GM cotton could be ‘game changer’ for Australian farmers
A new variety of genetically modified cotton is shaping up to be a game-changer for those looking to grow cotton ...
Chipotle fumbles science in attempt to justify its anti-GMO stance
[Editor's note: Stephan Neidenbach is a middle school teacher and blogger. He runs the popular We Loves GMO and Vaccines ...
What are natural flavors and scents? Biotechnology blurs the definition
A company in the United Kingdom can transform chemicals found in oranges into the coveted flavor of grapefruit. By mixing ...
Fertilizer-making GE microbes could boost crop yields, fight malnutrition in developing world
Industrial fertilizers help feed billions of people every year, but they remain beyond the reach of many of the world’s ...
Was the EPA right not to ban the crop pesticide chlorpyrifos?
The EPA decision allowing farmers to continue using the popular pesticide chlorpyrifos has drawn both praise and scorn, each side ...
Bangladesh announces release of 3 more GMO pest-resistant eggplant varieties
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) will release three more varieties of the country's first genetically modified (GM) crop--Bt Brinjal [eggplant], ...
Greenpeace’s ‘double standard’ on lab-created seedless watermelons and GMOs
[Editor's note: Myles Power is a chemist in Manchester, England. Read the GLP profile of Greenpeace here.] Last year [2016], I ...
What is synthetic biology?
[Synthetic biology is] a discipline that brings together the insights and methodologies of computer science; engineering; and, of course, biology ...
ChemChina takeover of Syngenta approved by US, EU regulators in China’s biggest foreign acquisition ever
U.S. and European regulators have cleared a Chinese conglomerate's proposed $43 billion acquisition of Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta on condition ...
