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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USDA to certify farmland switching from conventional to help increase production of organic food
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on [Jan. 11] took a step toward increasing the production of organic foods — which has not ...
Rusty-patched bumble bee listed as endangered, neonic pesticides pose ‘particular threat’, says USFWS
The rusty patched bumble bee ... was listed on [Jan. 10] as an endangered species, becoming the first wild bee in the ...
Myth busting: Is agricultural pesticide use in the US, and its impact, going down or up?
Anti-GMO groups have shifted their focus from demonizing GMO crops directly to criticizing chemical usage, particularly the herbicide glyphosate, for ...
Unintended consequences? Genetic engineering innovation stifled by Toxic Substances Control Act
[L]ast summer Congress issued reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act, a 30 year old law governing how the EPA ...
New RNAi spray formulation protects plants from viral infection for 20 days
...[A] team at the University of Queensland in Australia has managed to achieve long-lasting gene silencing inside plant cells. They ...
GM herbicide-tolerant crops reduce overall herbicide use
Editor’s Note: This blog by geneticist Anastasia Bodnar evaluates whether claims made by the biotechnology industry that GM foods decrease ...
Will gene editing promote ‘industrial farming’? Are there sustainable alternatives?
Editor's Note: This article was written by two members of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, an ...
Sri Lankan tea industry faces devastating crop losses following glyphosate ban
The Planters Association of Ceylon (PA), faced with devastating crop losses in excess of Rs. 15 billion in 2016, is ...
Monsanto’s public relations stumbles partly responsible for GMOs bad reputation
... Despite the company’s chequered history, the general public was largely unaware Monsanto…[but t]hat all changed in 1996...when Monsanto attempted ...
GMO Bt corn contains fewer disease-causing mycotoxins than conventional corn
Editor's Note: This blog by geneticist Anastasia Bodnar evaluate whether claims made by the biotechnology industry that GM foods are free ...
7 ways CRISPR gene editing could transform our lives
[W]e asked a variety of scientists what they think are realistically the most exciting ways that scientists might one day ...
Scotts GMO grass, nearing approval, under fire in Oregon for ‘contamination’ claims
[Scotts Miracle-Gro's unapproved genetically modified] grass has taken root in Oregon...the self-professed grass seed capital of the world with a ...
Hawaii state experts challenge anti-GMO myth: Pesticide threats not from farming but homes
The anti-GMO movement has succesfully established this false narrative: Seed companies in Hawaii are using unprecedented quantities of pesticides in ...
Insect resistance to Bt crops and weed resistance to herbicides rose in 2016
Insects and weeds pushed many chemical and genetic crop protection tools to their breaking point. A wealth of confirmed and suspected ...
Kauai council may repeal anti-GMO/anti-pesticide bill ruled invalid by federal court
The County Council will take up a resolution to correct the serious public policy error made with enactment of Bill ...
Will new dicamba and 2,4-d herbicide mixes pose drift threat to Texas wine growers?
As Paul Bonarrigo watched his grapevines dwindle, he was confident that heavy-duty herbicides, probably sprayed on crops by a nearby ...
Environmental groups push stricter pesticide rules, including glyphosate ban, in Hawaii
Hawaii residents concerned about pesticide use by major agriculture companies on the islands are planning a push to strengthen regulation ...
Industry funding of university research complicated, unavoidable
[The New York Times article Scientists Loved and Loathed by an Agrochemical Giant] does present a prima facie case that ...
Why business journalists should not write on science: Washington Post botches India GMO cotton exposé
Business reporters should not attempt to write about science--a point underscored by a botched Washington Post "investigation" about growing cotton ...
Recapping 2016: 10 ways anti-GMO activists put ideology ahead of science
When they said we would have to add an extra second to the clocks at the end of 2016, there ...
Advances in CRISPR, gene editing helping ‘clean tech’ get off ground after years of failure
A decade ago, a group of biologists, venture capitalists and computer whizzes...hoped to overturn polluting industries with microorganisms cheerily excreting ...
Europe, Canada demonstrate challenges of regulating pesticides
The new Trump Administration is now taking shape, amid bountiful signals that it will not blindly accept or rubberstamp previous ...
Farmers worry over weed control in corn as EPA mulls future of atrazine
Corn is a great rotational crop from an agronomic standpoint, and [atrazine] has been recommended to assist with control of ...
Health Canada’s proposed ban of a neonicotinoid pesticide draws criticism
In November, Health Canada said that a nation-wide ban of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, was necessary because the chemical is ...
EU panel concludes organic food may offer limited health, sustainability advantages
This report reviews existing scientific evidence regarding the impact of organic food on human health from an EU perspective, with ...
Could sustainable weeding provide alternative to pesticides in herbicide resistant plants?
Farmers are concerned about weeds becoming resistant to herbicides used on crops that have been genetically modified to withstand herbicides… ...
Incoming Trump Administration faces key food policy challenges
Here are some stories [to track] in the coming year: Mind-bending agribusiness deals. For more than a decade, the global ...
