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.
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 ...
Europe appears poised to overturn neonicotinoid pesticides ban
[Editor's note: Matt Ridley is a columnist for the Times (UK), a member of the House of Lords and the ...
Shared Values Must Come Before Science in Winning Consumer Trust On Today’s Farming Practices
Science isn’t enough. Science tells us if we can do something while society tells us if we should. Farmers need ...
Organic industry fears Republicans are targeting National Organic Program
Back in December [2016], the Freedom Caucus [a group of US House Republicans] released a "recommended list of regulations to ...
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 ...
‘Clean food’ is a marketing ploy and offensive to hard-working scientists, farmers
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular geneticist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] When ...
Is Organic Farming Better for the Environment?
Many consumers believe buying organic is “voting with their dollars” for environmentally sustainable farming. Is that science or myth? There ...
Nigeria faces drought, famine, malnutrition and hunger, but GMOs offer hope
A report recently published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says a total of 8.1 million people ...
Can Europe reform its GMO regulatory sausage-making mess?
Jean-Claude Juncker has had enough of EU states scapegoating Brussels for their failures. Over his first two years as president ...
Armyworms ravaging African staple crops: GM insect resistant crops offer a solution
[Editor's note: The following is an interview with Kenneth Wilson, professor at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University.] A combination of ...
Environmentally friendly farm chemicals? Bio-insecticides edge closer to reality
A 'new generation' of environmentally friendly pesticides is a step closer as researchers make an important breakthrough in pest control ...
Bee crisis? How intelligent sticky drones could buzz alongside nature’s pollinators
Tiny drones dressed in horsehair and coated with a sticky goo have been attempting to pollinate lilies in a Japanese ...
Without Glyphosate, What Would Farming Look Like?
Dave Walton--who grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa and hay, and is director of the Iowa Soybean Association—discusses the ecological consequences if ...
Harvard School of Public Health accused of scare mongering about conventional food, promoting organics
[Editor's note: Kevin Folta is a molecular geneticist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] Apparently ...
To help bees and farmers, EU should roll back ‘fear-based’ ban on neonicotinoid pesticides
[Editor's note: The following is a letter by David Zaruk, Belgian-based environmental-health journalist specializing in science and public policy, to Vytenis ...
Soybeans resistant to herbicide dicamba will improve weed control but may not meet expectations
A barrier to weed control on soybean farms has been lifted after the [EPA] approved a label allowing use of the ...
Talking Biotech: Clay nanoparticles deliver plants gene-silencing virus-protecting RNA spray
Revolutionizing crop protection? Biotechnologist Neena Mitter on 'bioclay' — spray that protects plants from a virus using nanoparticles to deliver ...
American farm bust: Global competition, low prices, high seed costs push farmers to the edge
Across the heartland, a multiyear slump in prices for corn, wheat and other farm commodities brought on by a glut of ...
Pesticides just one tool in the modern farmer’s pest management toolbox
Modern farming involves much more than just spraying pesticides to keep pests at bay. Farmers must employ a broad array ...
