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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Monsanto, corporations accused of ‘buying scientists’ to place fake news in academic journals
[Editor's note: Paul Thacker is a consultant to nonprofits critical of GM technology. He is well known for his personal attacks on ...
Dow, DuPont merger clears hurdle with approval by European Union
The European Commission has given the go-ahead to the merger of US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont. The deal ...
UK farmer: Here’s how the herbicide glyphosate helps me farm sustainably
[Editor's note: Ian Pigott is a farmer in Harpenden, UK. Located just 20 miles from the center of London, he grows ...
How Republicans and Democrats could work together to streamline biotech regulations
[Editor's note: Greg Jaffe is director of the Project on Biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.] On ...
Field trial shows insect-resistant GMO corn could help African countries fend off armyworm outbreak
Scientists have warned that the armyworm currently ravaging parts of Uganda could enter Kenya anytime, spelling doom for its stressed ...
EPA deserves some respect: Environmental regulations should be refined, not dismantled
Primarily in Europe, but increasingly in the US, junk science and activist manipulation diminish the scientific integrity of the regulatory ...
EU leaning toward permanent ban of neonicotinoid insecticides, citing ‘acute risk to bees’
The world’s most widely used insecticides would be banned from all fields across Europe under draft regulations from the European ...
Talking Biotech: Should consumers fear use of hormones, antibiotics, trace chemicals and GMOs in our food?
From marketers to activists, there is an effort to shame consumers over the use of modern technologies, such as genetic ...
Why it’s time to end the ‘farmers versus environmentalists’ fight and work together
[Editor's note: Suzy Friedman is the senior director of agricultural sustainability at the Environmental Defense Fund.] On paper, I appear ...
Canadian farmers, beekeepers: Neonicotinoid replacement ineffective, bad for bees
A proposed replacement for a key neonicotinoid pesticide is proving unpopular with everyone — including farmers and beekeepers. Farmers adopted ...
Medical school investigation finds ‘no evidence’ Monsanto ghostwrote paper on safety of herbicide glyphosate
After a quick investigation, officials at a medical school in New York State say they have found "no evidence" that ...
Did Cargill ruin its reputation with scientists, farmers with one #NonGMO tweet?
[Read the GLP profile of the Non-GMO project here.] Reputations are a funny thing. It takes years to build them ...
Environmental Working Group must turn to sound science to address public fear created by ‘dirty dozen’ list
There are now two peer-reviewed studies from respected academic institutions (Johns Hopkins and Illinois Institute of Technology) with similar conclusions ...
Afraid of burnt toast? Food expert says it’s dangerous to fear modern food
Many foods contain acrylamide, so the chemical can't be avoided, [Joe] Schwarcz [of the Office for Science and Society at McGill University in Montreal] said ...
Rusty patched bumblebee officially added to endangered species list
[Editor’s note: Read the GLP’s coverage of pollinators here.] The rusty patched bumblebee on Tuesday [March 21, 2017] became the ...
Canadian farmers poised to plant GM potatoes for first time
In 2016, no acres in Canada were seeded to J.R. Simplot Company’s genetically engineered first-generation Innate potato lines. But industry ...
Infographic: Explore the future of genetic engineering and food
The first genetically engineered apple, Arctic Apple, a modified variety of Golden Delicious, hit stores in test markets in the ...
Environmental Working Group’s ‘dirty’ marketing serves ‘big organic’ donors, not consumers
Environmental Working Group's list of 'chemically soaked' fruits and vegetables is unscientific and promotes the false idea that conventional foods ...
Which GM crops might be embraced by the organic movement — if sustainability matters
[Editor's note: Gerhart Ryffel is a professor at the Institute of Cell Biology, Essen University Hospital in Germany.] Several years ago, I ...
‘Save the Bees?’ General Mills campaign perpetuates myths about GMOs, pesticides
Watch out – Buzz, the iconic mascot for General Mills’ Honey Nut Cheerios, is going to be missing in action ...
Farms are not like Eden: The case for aggressive human intervention in agriculture
Farming is controlling nature for our own purposes. There is no utopian state. We should stop trying to restore, recover, ...
Is your sperm being zapped by chemicals in the environment?
Nick Kristof is an accomplished reporter...[but] when he ventures into issues relating to environmental exposures and their putative health effects, ...
Understanding innovation’s ‘enemies’: Calestous Juma explores how new technologies can overcome social opposition
[Editor's Note: The following is a review of the book, "Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies" by Harvard ...
‘Industrial’ corn: GM variety makes ethanol more energy efficient
Farmers in [North Dakota] will grow an industrial-quality corn specifically designed for the ethanol industry this summer. Corn with the ...
California can list glyphosate herbicide under Prop 65 as a carcinogen, following court win
[Editor's note: On March 15, 2017, it was announced that glyphosate was found "not carcinogenic" by a European safety agency ...
Minnesota lawmakers block legislation to regulate neonicotinoid insecticides
Minnesota lawmakers have derailed legislation to give the state Department of Agriculture authority over seeds treated with insecticide. Seeds treated ...
With pesticide resistance rising, crop scientists look to CRISPR, bacteria for solutions
Resistance to conventional pesticides — among insects, weeds or microbial pathogens — is common on farms worldwide. CropLife International, an ...
