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: The herbicide glyphosate isn’t perfect. Banning it would be far worse.
For decades, farmers have relied on glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup and the most widely used herbicide in ...
EPA concludes glyphosate is not carcinogenic. Missouri courts say Monsanto failed to warn it might be. SCOTUS weighs in.
Plaintiffs have filed tens of thousands of lawsuits in state courts alleging that Monsanto’s Roundup weed-killer gave them cancer. The ...
Wellness influencer nonsense: No, nicotine does not boost cognition and productivity, but it can damage your health
If you spend any time on social media, you may have noticed a curious trend: wellness influencers singing the praises ...
MAHA’s special protein-focused formula for skin care: Beef tallow and salmon sperm. How could they be wrong?
From moisturizers made with beef tallow to salmon sperm facials, consumers have become more interested in animal-based skin care products ...
Gurus of woo: 9 health influencer superstars
Some work full time as scientists and physicians .... Others have no relevant credentials to speak of, and frequently disseminate ...
GLP podcast: Miracle drug? Tech bros inflate depression-fighting effects of psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT
The greater the media hype around psychedelics, the more skeptical you should be. A perfect example of why this skepticism ...
Fearing MAHA, Trump administration slows approval of safer types of PFAS and other critical chemicals
The Environmental Protection Agency is sitting on dozens of approvals for uses of “forever chemicals” at the direction of Administrator Lee Zeldin, ...
Will the MAHA movement save the GOP this fall — or help bury it? This man may be key
Tony Lyons knows how Republicans can win the midterm elections later this year. All they need to do, as he ...
Viewpoint — Influential sports scientists: ‘No evidence that organic food is healthier’
Dr. Mike Israetel, a sports scientist and professor with a PhD in kinesiology, recently appeared on The Rubin Report to ...
Reviewing the evidence on the benefits and dangers of glyphosate
President Trump recently signed an Executive Order that expands U.S. production of glyphosate, a herbicide contained in commercial and domestic ...
Viewpoint — RFK, Jr. vs. fluoride: The next big health brawl—science be damned
The EPA recently took its first step toward determining safe levels of fluoride in drinking water, publishing a "Preliminary Assessment ...
Why the herbicide glyphosate is key to sustainable agriculture
Here are some reasons why there could not be sustainable agriculture without herbicides like those containing glyphosate. Sustainable Farming: The ...
Netflix plastic documentary is scare nonsense packaged as science
Netflix, which has made simplified propaganda many times before (See: Dopesick), sticks to a familiar formula in a thoroughly slanted ...
GLP podcast: Overdose crisis—Illicit opioids spread like drug-resistant bacteria?
The harder the government cracks down on a drug, the more deadly its illicit replacement that emerges from the black ...
Viewpoint — Dirty Dozen produce ranking flop: Environmental Working Group is at it again with its scientifically ignorant rankings
Spring has sprung. And along with the change of season comes the annual release of Environmental Working Group’s “Shopper’s Guide to ...
Viewpoint: The ‘link to cancer’ myth—Activist and trial lawyers misrepresent the potential danger of glyphosate and other herbicides
President Trump recently signed an Executive Order invoking the Defense Production Act to ensure increased domestic supplies of elemental phosphorus ...
Viewpoint — Glyphosate: Ecological villain or environmental scapegoat?
Glyphosate may just be the most polarizing chemical in modern agriculture, if not modern society. Since the World Health Organization’s ...
GLP podcast: Does industry funding corrupt science? The ‘shill gambit,’ debunked
It's a charge many scientists face: they post a factual tweet refuting common misinfo about vaccines, pesticides or some other ...
Viewpoint: Wheat has become a target of glyphosate critics. Should the herbicide be banned?
We have reached a point where the mere mention of glyphosate reflexively triggers public reactions of fear, regardless of whether ...
U.S. defunding International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), UN-affiliated group that issued cancer warnings for glyphosate, steak, and getting a haircut
The United States’s withdrawal this year from the World Health Organization (WHO) is having knock-on effects on an influential global ...
Viewpoint: Is the Republican-backed farm bill an agriculture industry giveaway?
The newly proposed, Republican-led farm bill includes a range of provisions opponents say constitute a “pesticide industry wishlist” that would ...
White House clamps down on RFK, Jr.’s vaccine rejectionism but he reportedly retains Trump’s support
The White House is more tightly controlling the messaging and policies—including around vaccines—coming from the Department of Health and Human ...
Viewpoint—Liberal delusion: No, RFK, Jr. would not have made a great Secretary of Agriculture
The standard non-MAGA take on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is that it’s too bad he’s such a brain-wormed lunatic about ...
Cosmetics offers a case study in the dangers of science misinformation
When we think about misinformation, we tend to picture election interference, geopolitical propaganda or pandemic conspiracy theories. But misinformation does ...
Viewpoint: International Association for Research on Cancer and U.S. tort industry extortion racket revs up after release of IARC’s misleading cancer hysteria claims
[A World Health Organization scientific body], the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), published Monograph 140, releasing its initial ...
Iowa Republicans partnering with quack ‘Raja of World Peace’ Maharishi Flying Yoga cult “scientist” to study pesticide residues
State Representative Jeff Shipley (R-Van Buren), and his Committee for Peace and Prosperity, today announced a major collaborative research initiative ...
Viewpoint: What do organic, agroecology and regenerative agriculture have in common? They don’t work and aren’t sustainable
A farmer drastically reduces fertilizer applications, trusting soil biology to provide the needed nutrients. A crop consultant recommends a 10-species ...
