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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Iowa farmer: 8 popular food companies that promote myths about GMOs
[Editor’s note: Michelle Miller, known on social media as the Farm Babe, raises lamb and beef cattle, and grows almost ...
Blight-resistant genetically engineered potatoes that cut fungicide use approved
Three types of potatoes genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine are safe for the ...
Idaho GMO sugar beet farmers mull ditching crop as more food companies adopt non-GMO label
Idaho sugar beet farmers have grown increasingly dependent on genetically modified seeds for cost savings and greater yields over the ...
Precision agriculture: How big data can make farms more sustainable
Farmers have numerous sources of technology and data available to use in their operations, but many producers struggle with what ...
Perplexing Case Of Consumer Confusion About GE Foods In a ‘Fake News’ World
Information issued by scientific organizations often do not change perceptions. This is especially true for people with rooted 'tribal' beliefs ...
1 in 3 Scottish farmers blame ban of neonicotinoid pesticides for rapeseed crop damage
More than a third of Scottish arable farmers say the ban on neonicotinoids has resulted in greater damage to oilseed ...
Whole Foods, Patagonia, Clif Bar school lunch program promotes misconceptions about pesticides, seed saving
[Editor's note: Stephan Neidenbach is a middle school teacher, father, and blogger.] The Conscious Kitchen program (funded by Patagonia, Clif ...
Bayer takeover of Monsanto delayed as US, European regulators seek more information on deal
The German drugmaker will only seek approval for the transaction in the European Union next quarter after regulators there requested ...
Commercialization, research on ‘home-grown’ GMO crops backed by Kenyan lawmakers
Kenyan crop researchers are free to start commercial growing of Genetically Modified (GMO) cotton, the country’s lawmakers said on Tuesday ...
Did Google do the right thing in blocking Natural News from searches?
[Editor’s note: Read the GLP’s profile on Natural News founder Mike Adams. Also: FBI turns up heat on Mike Adams ...
How European-Based NGOs Block Crop Biotechnology Adoption In Africa
European politicians and anti-biotech groups lobby to prevent Africa from adopting or trading GE crops. Farmers have been forced to ...
Trump’s threatened ‘trade war’ with Mexico could undermine US GMO corn market
[Editor's note: More than 90% of the US corn market is GMO — a combination of herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant varieties.] ...
Debunking Denialism: 5 environmental benefits from GMO crops
Editor's note: Emil Karlsson is a Swedish science communicator who runs the Debunking Denialism blog, which is dedicated to scientific skepticism ...
1 cigarette ‘more carcinogenic and toxic’ than a spoonful of glyphosate pesticide
[Editor's note: Matan Shelomi is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Entomology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical ...
Asian Agrobiotechnology Slowed By Private-Public Sector Tensions And NGO Activism
Asian food security challenged by population growth and rising calorie demands that non GE farming cannot meet. Foreign funded anti-GE ...
GMO-free diet adds almost $3,000 per year to average US family food budget, study finds
[Editor's note: The following is a study by Barry Goodwin, Michele Marra, and Nicholas Piggott, from the Agricultural and Resource ...
Insect-resistant GMO cowpeas speed toward commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan African farmers will soon have access to improved cowpea varieties that will lead to increases in yield. This follows ...
Farmers in 10 states file lawsuit alleging Monsanto responsible for crop damage from drift of dicamba herbicide
[Editor's note: In November 2016, the EPA approved a formulation of dicamba that contains an additive that reduces volatility. This ...
Consumption of soy milk and herbicide glyphosate may alter your sperm? Horticulturist Kevin Folta says not so fast
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular geneticist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] Carey ...
What factors shape women’s perceptions of GMOs?
[Editor's note: Heather Bray is a senior research associate and Rachel Ankeny is a professor of history, both at the ...
Did EU abuse emergency authorizations of neonicotinoids?
The EU has been criticised after a new legal analysis showed it had allowed scores of “emergency authorisations” of banned ...
US producers struggling to keep up with rising demand for organic, non-GMO grains
Increasing consumer demand for organic and non-GMO foods led to a sharp rise in organic grain imports in 2016 — ...
‘Oregon prohibition on local GMO restrictions should remain’
[Editor's note: The following is an editorial by Capital Press, an independent news website that covers the agriculture industry in and ...
Indian farmers can benefit tremendously from planting GM crops, new book says
Former director of [the] Centre for Plant Molecular Biology at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University [in India,] S Sadasivam on [Feb ...
Pediatrician debunks claims that GMOs and chemicals used with them are bad for the environment
[Editor’s note: Emiliano Tatar is a pediatrician at the Einstein Healthcare Network Roxborough Plaza. The following is an interview with ...
Drought-tolerant genetically engineered maize poised to help African farmers adapt to changing climate
[Editor's note: Mark Lynas is an author and journalist who reports on crop biotechnology around the world.] Tanzania's first-ever genetically ...
Food, farm and anti-pesticide groups ask US attorney general to block 3 agri-business mergers
Nearly 325 consumer, food, farm and anti-pesticide groups sent a letter [on February 13] to newly confirmed Attorney General Jeff Sessions ...
