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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Glyphosate: Dangerous chemical or anti-GMO bogeyman?
Glyphosate has drawn scrutiny and criticism like no other chemical in agriculture since the controversy over DDT. But years of ...
Glyphosate found ‘not carcinogenic’: Key European safety agency joins consensus view on herbicide’s safety
A key European safety agency says glyphosate does not cause cancer, paving the way for the herbicide to regain long-term ...
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 ...
Australian election results could spell bad news for GMO farmers
Labor's comprehensive victory at the [March 2017] WA [Western Australia] election raises questions about the future status of plant biotechnology ...
Study challenges belief that milkweed is sole cause of monarch butterfly declines
Steep declines in the number of monarch butterflies reaching their wintering grounds in Mexico are not fully explained by fewer ...
EPA/Monsanto collusion alleged in lawsuit challenging safety of Roundup herbicide
[Editor's note: Read the GLP's coverage of glyphosate's cancer risk here and here. Read the American Council on Science and Health's ...
Challenging Danny Hakim’s New York Times claim that Monsanto conspired to cover up glyphosate dangers
[Editor's note: Alex Berezow is a microbiologist and a senior fellow of biomedical science at the American Council on Science ...
Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen pesticide-in-foods list confuses risk and hazard
It's that time of the year when the Environmental Working Group produces its "Dirty Dozen List" - foods they believe ...
Toxin, glyphosate, carcinogen: Story behind 3 most misused words in conventional vs. organic farming debate
[Editor's note: Marthélize Tredoux is a former scientist and co-owner and editor at Incogvino, a website that covers wine. By day, ...
To make farming more sustainable, don’t mimic nature — do it better
Behind many efforts to make agriculture more sustainable is the idea that our farming systems need to be more like ...
Is organic farming ‘holy grail’ to environmental, food scarcity problems? Study says no
Many people choose organic thinking it’s better for humans and the planet, but a new UBC study published today in ...
