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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Viewpoint: Captured by agroecology ideologues — The Conversation fans advocacy group propaganda challenging glyphosate safety
It is frustrating to read blatantly false science information online, but it’s a fact of our time. For years, we’ve ...
Viewpoint: How to best regulate chemicals? ‘Precautions employed to regulate tiny, sometimes nonexistent risks can cause real harm’
For virtually everything in life, we face decisions about whether we should “sweat the small stuff.” No doubt, most may ...
GLP podcast: Debunking opioid myths; Decaf coffee boosts cancer risk? No. Local food might not be better for the planet
Most of what you know about the opioid epidemic is probably wrong. One expert shares the facts about pain pills ...
‘Carcinogen of the day’: Steven Pinker on the irrational opposition to genetically engineered crops
In the book “Blank Slate: The Contemporary Denial of Human Nature” Steven Pinker writes that the widespread fear of all ...
Analysis: Misguided activist attacks on Africa’s push to increase the use of synthetic fertilizer — ‘Maintaining low agricultural yields won’t accomplish the climate and environmental goals rich Westerners purport to support’
One of the many impacts of Russia’s war against Ukraine was a spike in global food prices. Although food prices ...
GLP podcast: Lead in Lunchables? Dismantling Consumer Reports’ latest chemical scare
"Should You Pack Lunchables for Your Kid’s School Lunch?" Consumer Reports asked rhetorically in a recent headline. "CR's tests found ...
Viewpoint: CNN joins list of media organizations snookered by Environmental Defense Fund claims that methylene chloride in decaffeinated coffee poses health hazards
If you've already read this recent story on the CNN news site, perhaps it's not too late to get back the ...
GLP podcast: CBD’s placebo effect; The right-wing raw milk conspiracy? Tattoos boost cancer risk? Unlikely
Does CBD treat pain, or is the marketing hype around this supplement just driven by the placebo effect? It appears ...
Viewpoint: Environmental trade-offs are more important than knee jerk, feel-good chemophobia — Pistachio growers make the case for paraquat
The latest errant shot at farmers is Assembly Bill 1963, authored by Asm. Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, an unnecessary and unscientific ...
GLP podcast: Facts and myths about ‘ultra-processed food’; Time to transform our food system? Don’t trust AI chat bots to tell you the truth
Is there a corporate conspiracy to cover up the dangers of processed foods? A recent news report say yes. Let's ...
Organic farms are always free from pesticides? Debunking 17 enduring organic food myths
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic retail sales were estimated to be more than a staggering $52 billion ...
Fighting crop diseases: Replacing crop chemicals by using gene-editing and other new breeding techniques
Modern agriculture has encountered several challenges in achieving constant yield stability especially due to disease outbreaks and lack of long-term ...
Viewpoint: Zombie ‘Moms Across America’ tries to link non-carcinogenic glyphosate to Celiac disease, autism and other health disorders
I can’t wait for the day when anti-science activists decide to cling to an entirely different pesticide to fixate on ...
Viewpoint: ‘Bayer is desperate to put glyphosate litigation in the rear-view mirror’ — and they’re considering splitting the company in two to solve the problem
Bayer is desperate to put glyphosate litigation in the rear-view mirror. Just. Get. It. Over. That has the Bayer brain ...
GLP podcast: EPA wrong about ‘forever chemicals’? Heatwaves and drugs don’t mix; Idealistic activism harms public health
The EPA is facing a new crop of lawsuits brought by plaintiffs who say the agency's new guidance on "forever ...
Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer
A jury decision, while significant, is not a substitute for scientific research ...
Glyphosate legal update: Meta-study used by ambulance-chasing tort lawyers targeting Bayer’s Roundup as carcinogenic deemed ‘junk science nonsense’ by trial judge
Trial lawyers suing over a popular weedkiller saw six words they never want to read in a court document approving ...
How long is forever? Chemical manufacturers challenge what they believe are unscientific attacks on PFAS — what environmental activists call ‘forever chemicals’
Chemical and manufacturing groups sued the federal government [June 10] over a landmark drinking-water standard that would require cleanup of ...
Viewpoint: Organic chemicals don’t harm essential soil microbes — but glyphosate does? Propaganda claims collapse after real-world study
Is glyphosate damaging essential microbes in soil? A multi-year study sought to answer the question using real-world conditions ...
Viewpoint: Forget environmental and organic mumbo-jumbo — Here’s what you really get at farmer’s markets
There is populist rhetoric about Buy Local but what few in the public realize is that the definition is subjective ...
GLP podcast: Can you trust ‘industry-funded’ science?
Popular science news is often shot through with the assumption that industry-funded research is inherently suspect because companies value profits ...
COVID lab leak hypothesis gains traction again — Broad Institute molecular biologist cites 5 key arguments
Although how the pandemic started has been hotly debated, a growing volume of evidence — gleaned from public records released ...
GLP podcast: About that lousy glyphosate-damages-sperm study; Social media can be good for teens? ‘Carnivore’ diet facts and myths
A recent study and subsequent news coverage alleged that the weedkiller glyphosate causes reproductive damage in men. As usual, there ...
Viewpoint: ‘Organic products are safer for consumers than conventional products?’— In Canada, 46% of organic produce tests positive for pesticide residue
Over and over, the term ‘organic’ is used as an umbrella for a variety of qualitative features in food. There ...
‘We used to spray 12 times in a year. It is now at most four times’: Kenyan farmers reap benefits of embracing genetically modified pest resistant Bt cotton
In Embu and Kirinyaga counties, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) cotton is the most prized arrival since sliced bread ...
Nuisance lawsuits against safe chemicals have soared due to proliferating junk science. Meet one whistleblower trying to change that
A vital battle is being waged daily by researchers like Lonni Besançon, who devote their spare time to fighting scientific ...
Viewpoint: Organic food certification is nothing more than a ‘belief system’ — Here’s how it went from a ‘weird cult to a $135 billion business’
If you buy kosher food, how do you know it is really created using a special process? The same goes ...
