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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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
UN Commission report promoting organics, critical of pesticides challenged as biased
A recent UN report grabbed headlines for dismissing as ‘myth’ the notion that pesticides are necessary to feed the world ...
Talking Biotech: Habitat loss, parasitic mites — not GMOs, pesticides — prime culprits in butterfly, bee losses
GMOs and pesticides are often blamed for pollinator losses. Recent research indicates that other factors are likely more important, says ...
Quest for higher yields is enemy of biodiversity on farms — both conventional and organic
What kind of agriculture most benefits biodiversity? In recent years, few questions have animated conservationists and land-use scientists more than ...
Fact check: South African political party misleads about glyphosate’s cancer risk
Calling for a probe into “a possible crime against humanity”, a South African political party wants to halt the use ...
Honey bee defenses could be strengthened through genes linked to stress resilience
A core set of genes involved in the responses of honey bees to multiple diseases caused by viruses and parasites ...
Insect-resistant GMO cowpeas could be available to Ghanaian farmers in 2018
Ongoing field tests on genetically modified cowpea (Bt cowpea) have produced successful results and will be ready for commercialisation and ...
Buying organic food to avoid pesticides? You may want to reconsider
Do you seek out organic fruits and vegetables to avoid those on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, fearful ...
Infographic: How GMO insect-resistant Bt crops work
[Editor's note: Karl Haro von Mogel earned his Ph.D. in plant breeding and plant genetics at UW-Madison, with a minor ...
Wrong message? Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen ‘pesticide-soaked’ fruits, vegetables to avoid may make us less healthy
Regardless of whether you’re a parent, an environmentalist, or just a plain old shopper, chances are you’ve gazed out over the supermarket ...
Organic 2.0: Biodynamic farming gains popularity in the US, but could it feed everyone?
National retailers like Whole Foods are stocking more biodynamic brands – but critics are questioning biodynamic farming’s ability to feed ...
Video: Fruit, vegetable shelf life extended by spray made from plant extracts
[Editor's note: Watch the video here.] “We use food to preserve food,” [Apeel Sciences CEO James] Rogers said. They start ...
Pakistan nears 5-year deal with Monsanto for GMO cotton, despite opposition
The Punjab [provincial] government [in Pakistan] is finalising a deal with Monsanto — a leading producer of genetically modified (GM) seed — to ...
European farmers caught in middle of political battles over pesticide bans, biotech mergers
[Editor's note: Robert de Graeff is senior policy officer for the European Landowners’ Organization.] It is fair to say that pesticides ...
Why hasn’t India embraced GM food as it did Green Revolution technologies?
[Editor's note: Vivian Fernandes is editor of Smart Indian Agriculture, a website devoted to promoting modern practices in agriculture including use ...
Switchgrass biofuel? New gene that makes plant sterile could ease contamination concerns
Switchgrass has been lauded as a promising source of biofuel.... Genetically modifying switchgrass could boost crop yields and its commercial ...
Green genes: Germany’s top organic researcher says environmentalists should embrace CRISPR editing
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Urs Niggli, director of the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture in Germany ...
How CRISPR gene editing can speed up domestication to make crops more sustainable, nutritious
Out of the more than 300,000 plant species in existence, only three species – rice, wheat, and maize – account ...
