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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Bayer awaits Supreme Court decision on whether to overturn Monsanto Roundup glyphosate cancer verdicts as it wins third defense case in a row
Bayer won a jury verdict over Roundup on [June 9], the third defense win in a row over Monsanto’s pesticide ...
Viewpoint: Toxic fruits and vegetables? Inspired by Environmental Working Group’s chemical scare fundraising gimmick in the US, Pesticide Action Network brings disinformation to Europe
Would you feed fruits and vegetables to your family after reading these headlines? Many European consumers may not, and they’d ...
Solicitor General’s amicus brief ‘unwittingly makes strong case’ for Supreme Court intervention in latest Monsanto case
The U.S. Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General of the United States to express the government’s views on Monsanto’s appeal ...
Independent European Chemicals Agency is 20th international group to find glyphosate is not carcinogenic
[The European Chemicals Agency, or] ECHA's Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) agrees to keep glyphosate’s current classification as causing serious ...
Viewpoint: Popular Science is the latest ‘mainstream’ news source to fall into the anti-glyphosate disinformation rabbit-hole
“This Roundup ingredient might cause cancer—but the EPA won’t ban it,” Popular Science told its readers in a terribly misleading January ...
Video: RNA technology used to develop COVID vaccines can protect crops from viruses, fungi and insect pests
It’s one of the biggest challenges facing the environment and farmers across the globe – pest control. But now, University ...
Viewpoint: ‘A very curious form of self-sabotage’ — Organic industry rejects crop biotechnology solutions for environmental damage caused by widespread copper sulfate use
Last February, the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) published a “mapping” on the uses ...
Obesity, stress and chemicals: Do these factors explain why girls are reaching puberty at increasingly younger ages?
Although it is difficult to tease apart cause and effect, earlier puberty may have harmful impacts, especially for girls. Girls ...
GLP Podcast: Once-a-month shot controls opioid addiction; Food waste as energy; Obesity drugs are here
A drug given once monthly as an injection could drastically reduce opioid use in the US. Why is it so ...
Are 9000 ‘forever chemicals’ used in stain-resistant fabrics, cosmetics and cookware harmful — as activists claim? Evidence is ambiguous
One of the questions I’ve been asked recently with increasing frequency is how to avoid exposure to those “forever chemicals” ...
CRISPR roaches: Gene editing shown to work in insects, opening doors for advanced pest control
Researchers have developed a CRISPR-Cas9 approach to enable gene editing in cockroaches, according to a study published by Cell Press ...
Farm groups claim US Solicitor General’s Supreme Court brief on glyphosate labeling puts it on the wrong side of science — and invites regulatory chaos
In a letter to President Biden, 54 agricultural groups expressed grave concern with a recent amicus brief submitted by the ...
‘No association between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma’: Independent scientific panel review challenges activist cancer claims
In an independent critical scientific review of the existing meta-analyses of studies on the potential health hazards of exposure to ...
GLP Podcast: ‘Toxic 10’ chemicals in food; Gene editing treats heart disease? Dog-breed myths debunked
There's a "toxic 10" group of chemicals lurking in every single food you consume. Listen in to find out what ...
Fate of glyphosate approval in Europe? Contentious stakeholder feedback delays recommendations till mid 2023
Due to an unprecedented flood of stakeholder input, relevant EU agencies announced their risk assessment on glyphosate will only come ...
With the US honeybee population stable, what are the challenges going forward?
There is a common phrase that appears in the popular press, in grant proposals and as a fund raising theme ...
What’s next for glyphosate cases? Bayer’s hopes US Supreme Court would overturn Roundup liability verdicts dims as US Department of Justice asks SCOTUS to reject company’s cancer claims appeal
Bayer’s latest legal setback in its Roundup saga looks equally toxic to American justice. Shares in the German drugs-to-agrochemicals group ...
GMO cowpeas cut chemical spraying by 3/4 in Nigerian trials, but ‘environmentalist’ opponents lobby for ban
Research conducted by the Cornell University Alliance for Science, an independent nonprofit research institute, observed that Nigeria imports an estimated ...
Kenyan cows produce 1/10th as much milk as those in Britain — If adopted, gene editing could dramatically improve quality and safety of African livestock
East Coast Fever (ECF) is rampant [in African countries]. ECF, which is caused by protozoan parasites spread by ticks, kills ...
‘From 12 chemical applications to 2’: Ghanian scientists urge final approval of breakthrough pesticide-reducing GMO cowpea
More than 100 science activists have in a letter to the National Biosafety Authority, urged it to approve Ghana’s first ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group’s scaremongering Dirty Dozen list of ‘pesticide coated’ fruits and veggies loses influence
The Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen shoppers guides to avoiding pesticide residue used to be a huge splash in ...
Viewpoint: Are American farmers overusing neonicotinoid-coated seeds and harming the environment?
Planting season for corn and soybeans across the U.S. will begin as soon as March in Southern states and then move north ...
How agriculture and climate change are shrinking the global insect population
The combination of climate change and heavy agriculture is having a profound impact on the abundance and diversity of insects, ...
Viewpoint: If the EPA sharply curtails herbicide atrazine, what are the environmental and economic trade-off?
Atrazine is a triazine herbicide used by American farmers to control broadleaf and grassy weeds. It’s largely used by corn ...
Viewpoint: Why we should trust farmers when it comes to herbicide application
Weed-killers have come under fire by activist groups opposing the use of crop protection, accusing it of harming endangered species ...
Viewpoint: ‘Green’ anti-pesticide activists spread misinformation about more environmentally-friendly sulfoxaflor insecticides
Sulfoxaflor is a new class of insecticides effective against certain insects that are increasingly resistant to older pesticides. The EPA ...
GLP Podcast: ‘Science-backed’ case for organic food; Dirty Dozen debunked; Gene therapy treats deadly immune disorder
Is there a science-based case for organic farming? One professor says yes, but how compelling are his arguments? Environmental Working ...
