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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Insects are disappearing from UK farms. Why, and what can be done?
Insect populations are declining worldwide at a rate of almost 1% per year. This decline is alarming. Insects play a ...
Fertilizers are critical for farming — but they are often environmentally costly. Synthetic biology may offer a solution
Almost everything about synthetic fertilizer sucks. It sucks for the climate, generating 2.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than ...
Another GMO approval: Philippines approves commercial growing of Bt insect resistant cotton
The Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry issued a Biosafety Permit for the Commercial Propagation of Bt cotton (GFM cry1A) developed by the Philippine ...
Viewpoint: ‘California’s plan to choose politics over science on pesticides will dump millions more tons of carbon and threaten food security’
Pesticides undergo a rigorous evaluation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It takes an average of more than 11 ...
Pesticides and Food: It’s not a black or white issue — How do organic pesticides compare to synthetic pesticides?
Many consumers choose to buy higher-priced organic produce because they believe organic foods are not grown using pesticides and therefore ...
Viewpoint: Why hyped ‘dangers of glyphosate’ is not a story in Slovenia
Plant protection products are a perennial bone of contention between environmentalists and farmers ...
Reduce synthetic fertilizers and improve yields? The microbiome revolution comes to agriculture
If manipulated correctly, they can help us cure cancer, understand how we can adapt to rising temperatures, play a role ...
Viewpoint: ‘What would a future without the weed-killer glyphosate look like?’
Glyphosate helped end the reign of the weed once it was approved in 1974. Then, when combined with genetic modification ...
Canadian farmers abandon organic certification because approved ‘natural’ chemicals can’t control devastating grasshoppers
Organic growers may have decisions to make after grasshoppers chomped their way through prairie fields this summer ...
Aspartame panic illustrates how scare-narratives can take root
“Trust is one of the most important metrics that any business and food ingredient makers should be looking at, explained,” ...
Insect-resistant Bt GMO crops have helped cut pesticide use. Now Nature is pushing back
In 2006, a small airplane started buzzing each cotton field in Arizona, a thin, dust-like cloud trailing behind it. The ...
Viewpoint: ‘Sugar is a far more dangerous enemy’ — Dentist explains why banning aspartame in foods and drinks is a reckless idea
I am a dentist and a mother of three. I know that even the most responsible parents will not be ...
Potential glyphosate ban: Calculating economic consequences if Europe’s most widely used pesticide is banned
Glyphosate is the most widely used pesticide in Europe. However, due to its potential effects on human health, its renewal ...
Pesticides and Food: It’s not a black or white issue — Part 5: Soil health ― When synthetic pesticides are more sustainable than ‘natural’ organics
Most consumers believe organic farming avoids pesticides and prioritizes the health of the environment more than conventional farming. However, this ...
Climate-smart genetically-engineered seeds may be Nigeria’s only viable way to confront farming disruptions brought on by climate change
Climate change has been a major menace in agricultural production especially for Nigeria that is fighting hard to produce enough ...
Yes, more honeybees die now than 40 years ago — but reasons why are not as clear-cut as politicians and activists claim
“Save the bees,” you will hear, at ice cream shops and farmers markets. A study touting the latest death rates ...
Kenya loses 60% of corn crop to stem borer pests annually. Insect-resistant Bt GMO corn could raise yields and cut pesticide use
Bacillus Thuringiensis (BT) is a species of bacteria that produces proteins that are toxic to certain insects. Because of this, ...
GLP podcast and video: PFAS bans could do more harm than good; Risks and benefits of ‘magic mushrooms’; ‘Ultra-processed’ foods are nutritious
There are growing calls to ban PFAS chemicals to protect public health. The problem is, these substances are used in ...
Viewpoint: Why much of what you’ve read about the health dangers of ultra-processed foods is wrong
The selling point of books like Ultra-Processed People is the idea that everything you know is wrong. Chris Van Tulleken, ...
Viewpoint: Pesticides in strawberries? Environmental Working Group scares people about safe produce but ignores chemicals applied by their organic mega donors
Environmental Working Group, the Extinction Rebellion of affordable produce, is always in a war on strawberries - unless they only ...
Viewpoint: Deception and dirty politics are behind targeting of PFAS
With allied epidemiologists placed inside the US Environmental Protection Agency, and scientists pushed to the side, environmentalists feel like they ...
Viewpoint: Propaganda ring blurs science and feeds ‘toxic tort’ industry targeting Roundup and aspartame
The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) cherry picks evidence, declares something is likely, probably, or ...
GLP podcast and video: Dunning-Kruger debunked? The evil industry, noble activist myth; The real Vandana Shiva
The less informed someone is about a topic, the more likely they are to overestimate their knowledge of it. This ...
Protecting honeybees and wild bees from neonicotinoid pesticides? As environmentalists and politicians lobby for bans, science takes a backseat
There has been a recent surge in the number and intensity of campaigns by environmental groups lobbying to ban many ...
Viewpoint: Why proposed PFAS chemical bans might do more harm than good
News broke last month that 3M has agreed to pay out $10.3 billion in settlement payments in response to lawsuits ...
Why do lab studies suggest neonicotinoid pesticides can harm bees, while field research suggests they have minimal environmental impact?
Pollinators play a crucial role in the production of food crops. While many crops are open pollinated, meaning they don’t ...
Viewpoint: Sustainable, natural, chemical, toxic — Words used by activists to label agriculture can distort science and turn the public against sensible farming
Reality is perceived by the definitions we give; the black and white lines we draw upon a grey canvas. So, ...
