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.
Guided by RFK Jr.’s scientifically illiterate advice, many Texas families with measles-infected children avoid going to the doctor, sometimes until it’s too late
Struggling to contain a raging measles epidemic in West Texas, public health officials increasingly worry that residents are relying on ...
Viewpoint: Food security vs. sustainability aspirations—Reality hijacks European Green Deal advocates
The EU aimed to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 with the European Green Deal (GDR) announced in December ...
Viewpoint: The health and environmental case against genetically modified crops in Kenya distorts the facts
Maize is Kenya’s staple food, yet its annual production consistently falls short of demand, hindered by degraded soils, limited access to ...
Viewpoint: The FDA under Trump 2.0, Marty Makary and RFK, Jr.: Uncertainty threatens
What would the Food and Drug Administration look like under Martin "Marty" Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon, President Trump's soon-to-be ...
Natural. Locally produced. Eco-friendly. Organic—Marketing buzzwords or meaningful descriptors?
[B]ased on a survey of 37 000 consumers in 40 countries, [r]espondents are generally most interested in natural, locally produced, ...
An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away? No, that won’t limit strokes and could very well lead to stomach, intestinal and brain bleeding
Many people still believe the benefits of taking an aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks and strokes outweigh the ...
Center for Science in the Public Interest: Here’s why you should not waste your money on cold- and flu-fighting supplements
In one study, researchers bought and analyzed 30 supplements that were being marketed on Amazon for immune health. According to the ...
Viewpoint: Challenging the agricultural misinformation zealots—Sustainable agriculture requires judicious weed management and crop chemicals
Any discussion of crop chemicals must consider the broad sweep of agricultural history, the pivotal moments of technological innovation, and ...
Viewpoint: MIT computer scientist (frequently cited by RFK. Jr.) predicted that by 2025 50% of all U.S. children would be born autistic due to glyphosate exposure. She was off by only 1600%
In the annals of failed doomsday predictions, Dr. Stephanie Seneff’s claim that half of all U.S. children would be autistic ...
Viewpoint: Environmental activists, food elitists and trial lawyers profiterring on science disinformation put American farmers and U.S. agricultural policy at risk.
Food elitists contend America's farmers and ranchers have lost their way. They want to overturn the system for food production ...
RFK, Jr.’s NIH blocks funding of all research into vaccine hesitancy and is poised to withdraw support of mRNA vaccines
The Trump administration is slashing long-standing areas of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, claiming they no longer ...
Overreaction or ‘about time’: RFK, Jr. targets food dyes and other additives. Here’s a balanced take on their aesthetics and safety
HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told top food executives on March 10 that one of his top priorities would ...
GLP podcast: COVID contrarian at NIH—How will Stanford’s controversial economist Jay Bhattacharya impact US science innovation?
The pandemic continues to roil our political discourse as Stanford health economist Jay Bhattacharya prepares to take over as director ...
Girl Scout 25-cookie “study” by crack science organization Moms Across America alleging ‘dangerous’ level of pesticide residues sparks class action tort case
The Girl Scouts have been sued by consumers over the alleged presence of "heavy metals" and pesticides in its popular ...
No, rhino horns are not an aphrodisiac: Dangerous delusions of ‘traditional Chinese medicine’
I recently attended a showing of Oscar-nominated short films. Most were riveting, but none more so than 'The Last Ranger,' ...
Viewpoint: US biotechnology innovation efforts dim with biomanufacturing a key laggard
The United States has been the undisputed innovator and leader in biology and biotechnology. Molecular biology and genetic engineering were ...
GLP podcast: Tort lawyers are destroying US science and medicine
In a nation once heralded as the crucible of scientific breakthroughs and medical marvels, US tort lawyers are now wielding ...
7 widely-embraced science “facts” that are dead wrong and threaten our health and prosperity
1.) If something wasn’t established in a peer reviewed, double-blind study, it hasn’t been robustly established. ... 2.) Fluoridated drinking ...
Reciprocal US-EU food war: Agricultural chemicals in the crosshairs as tariffs begin rolling out
The European Union is looking to halt imports of certain produce grown using pesticides currently banned from use here, the FT ...
Viewpoint: Litigation industry intensifies its lobbying in Iowa to stoke fear about the alleged dangers of glyphosate
I want to refute some dangerous misinformation being propagated around a bill in the Iowa Legislature. There is a concerted ...
Viewpoint: ‘Only in California could coffee both cause and prevent cancer’
Welcome to California, the Wild West - geographically and otherwise. Especially when it comes to science ...
Viewpoint: Anatomy of junk science—Dissecting yet another attempt by activist scientists to ‘link’ vaccines to autism
A newly published study is being widely circulated, purportedly showing a link between vaccines and autism. A closer look at ...
Glyphosate, conspiracy and Scientology: Church’s messy relationship with RFK, Jr. raises awkward questions about its influence on US science policy going forward
Although the public is largely unaware, the controversial Church of Scientology has injected itself into the middle of the contentious ...
RFK, Jr. cancels third vaccine planning and scheduling meeting, furthering endangering roll out of annual protective shots
The Food and Drug Administration ... canceled a planned March 13 committee meeting to update next winter's flu shot. ...
Viewpoint: Health disaster ahead—Here is RFK, Jrs.’ 6-point plan to undermine the U.S. vaccination protection network that took decades to construct
[L]wyers, like RFK Jr., tend to approach data and studies very differently than scientists. While scientists test a hypothesis by ...
‘Your spatula will kill you’: How a junk academic journal and a credulous media touched off yet another chemophobia scare
For months, the media indulged in a frenzy of fearmongering, plastering headlines about toxic flame retardants supposedly hiding in your ...
In the fight against opioid addiction, a new fentanyl vaccine could be an effective weapon
Can a vaccine be used to treat addiction? It sounds perplexing, but this is exactly the question the National Institutes of ...
