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.
Honeybees are not in crisis, but what about beekeepers?
While it's now acknowledged that honeybee populations aren’t declining, some of the focus of concern has shifted from the pollinators ...
Talking Biotech: Florida’s Kevin Folta on anti-GMO groups scaring consumers about glyphosate in foods
Florida’s Kevin Folta on anti-GMO groups scaring consumers about glyphosate in foods ...
International activist group, Avaaz, working to ban glyphosate in Canada, other countries
In the September issue of Country Guide I wrote about the Avaaz movement’s effort to ban glyphosate in “The Target is Glyphosate“ ...
While safety of herbicide glyphosate is clear, doubts fueled by WHO’s IARC undermines trust in science
Most regulators around the world have concluded that glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer. But one agency disagrees. The International ...
Myth-busting site Snopes judges Food Babe’s ‘shocking report’ of glyphosate in food “FALSE”
CLAIM: A new analysis of the residue on common American foods showed high levels of the herbicide glyphosate and Monsanto, ...
Talking Biotech: Florida’s Kevin Folta debunks claims of glyphosate in food; Oregon State’s Shaun Townsend uses genetics to breed more flavorful beer hops
Florida’s Kevin Folta debunks glyphosate in food claims; Oregon State’s Shaun Townsend uses genetics to breed more flavorful beer hops ...
Cause for concern over claims of “dangerous” glyphosate in wine, breast milk, cereal, etc.?
There is far less reason to worry about the 'dangers' of glyphosate when compared to other pesticide but many activists ...
Anti-GMO activist-funded lab tests find micro-traces of glyphosate in popular foods
The herbicide residues were found in cookies, crackers, popular cold cereals and chips commonly consumed by children and adults, according ...
Is the herbicide glyphosate, often paired with GMOs, especially dangerous?
Why do advocacy groups campaign against the herbicide glyphosate and not other far more toxic agricultural pesticides? ...
Lawsuit targets Topco over micro-traces of glyphosate in ‘natural’ granola
Plaintiff Jason Scholder is taking on defendants Topco Holdings Inc. and Topco Associates LLC, the makers of Granola Oats, Honey ...
Could glyphosate cause other health problems even if it’s not carcinogenic?
GMO skeptics have raised health concerns about glyphosate beyond claims, proven unfounded, that they cause cancer. Here is what the ...
Does the herbicide glyphosate cause cancer? The GLP does a deep dive into the science
Glyphosate--an herbicide pioneered by Monsanto but now off patent--has emerged as a proxy for critics of crop biotechnology and intensive ...
European scientist: WHO’s IARC faces scrutiny over glyphosate cancer designation
One of the World Health Organization's cancer research bodies faces increasing criticism because of its questionable categorizations of numerous safe ...
How to save Monarch butterflies? Banning glyphosate and planting milkweeds won’t help
According to activists, the decline of the Monarch butterfly population is primarily due to the over application of the popular ...
EPA: Dow’s Enlist Duo combining glyphosate and 2,4-D herbicides poses no serious safety concerns
Enlist Duo containing the choline salt of 2,4-D and glyphosate was first registered in 2014 for use in Genetically Engineered ...
WHO’s cancer agency claims “transparency”, moves to block glyphosate Freedom of Information requests
The World Health Organization's cancer agency [IARC]--which is facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens--advised academic experts ... who worked ...
Is EPA’s registration review of glyphosate being delayed for political reasons?
The Environmental Protection Agency appears to be punting a final decision on the safety of a controversial weedkiller into the ...
Weed scientist—Herbicide use increasing most rapidly in non-GE crops not paired with glyphosate
[Editor's note: Dr. Andrew Kniss is a weed scientist at the University of Wyoming. He co-authors the Weed Control Freaks ...
Australian chemical agency joins EPA, Canada, Europe in rejecting IARC’s glyphosate cancer claim
Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which serves as the country's chemical regulatory agency, has concluded that the herbicide glyphosate ...
Will US cut off support for WHO’s IARC over pilloried glyphosate cancer report?
Regulatory agencies in the US, Europe and most recently Australia have concluded that the International Cancer Research Agency botched its ...
Glyphosate in wine and cereal? Why dubious detection methods undermine GMO scare claims
Two NGO commissioned studies found parts per billion concentrations of glyphosate in wine and oatmeal. Are these findings cause for ...
Swiss parliament: No scientific justification for glyphosate ban
The House of Representatives has rejected a petition from various organisations such as Greenpeace and the Consumers’ Association for French-speaking ...
European Food Safety Authority will release glyphosate assessment data
EFSA is to release the raw data used in the recent EU safety evaluation of glyphosate, saying the move is ...
Four expert panels say data don’t support IARC’s classification of glyphosate as carcinogenic
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) published a monograph in 2015 concluding that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic to ...
IARC accused of selectively excluding ‘best’ scientists from glyphosate review
To scientists... what was really alarming was [the IARC] finding that the pesticide glyphosate, the main ingredient in the common product ...
Talking Biotech: Cell biologist, author Iida Ruishalme on glyphosate safety, dangers
Cell biologist, author and Thoughtscapism founder Iida Ruishalme's comprehensive assessment of glyphosate ...
Glyphosate herbicide in vaccines? Here is what concerned parents should know
Scientists say Moms Across America glyphosate-vaccine study methods don't reveal anything about herbicide ...
