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.
Podcast: Guardian’s glyphosate hysteria debunked; Intensive farming and pandemics; Where did dogs come from?
There's probably minute quantities of weedkiller in your urine. Should you panic? No. Will technological advances in farming reduce or ...
Viewpoint: Follow the science? Biden Administration politicizes EPA by ignoring its own scientists in backdoor way to ban atrazine. It will harm farming and increase food prices
The No. 1 crop in America is corn. It’s a major ingredient in thousands of food and beverage items as ...
Viewpoint: Sri Lankan organic farming disaster foreshadows what could unfold if Europe moves ahead with Green Deal Farm to Fork plan
Sri Lanka adopted the first 100% organic farming program and imposed a national ban on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The consequence ...
The Guardian and Carey Gillam join long list of activists who misrepresent the science of glyphosate and exaggerate the risk of pesticides
Within hours after journalist Carey Gillam’s article in The Guardian reported that the US Centers for Disease Control had found ...
Mexico’s glyphosate and GMO corn ban overturned by federal judge
A federal judge declared the 2020 Presidential Decree to eliminate the use of the herbicide glyphosate and transgenic corn in ...
Podcast: Pesticides cancel benefits of fruits and veggies? Drought-tolerant wheat coming soon? Do DNA diets work?
Do pesticide residues on food counteract the benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables? The FDA recently approved a genetically engineered ...
‘Oversimplification or outright falsehood?’: ‘Banned in Europe’ and 9 other anti-pesticide factoids that are short on science
Organic activist group Slow Food recently released its list of “10 Key Facts on Pesticides," a post designed to “raise awareness about ...
Viewpoint: Judge finds glyphosate is a likely carcinogen? Distinguishing between judicial decisions and science (they are not the same!)
EPA, along with hundreds of scientific studies, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in peer-reviewed journals, have found no link ...
Glyphosate detected in 80% of urine? Reason for alarm or deceptive data distortion?
Vilifying the safe herbicide glyphosate has been a long-time proxy for attacking modern conventional agriculture. Sold under the brand name ...
Viewpoint: Our binary system of classifying what’s ‘cancerous’ fails. Here’s what might replace it
Concern over substances that may cause cancer has led to various classification schemes to recognize carcinogenic threats and provide a ...
Dicamba drift: Court upholds judgement against Bayer but orders new trial to assess damages
Monsanto Co. and BASF Corp. are liable for the herbicide dicamba’s damage to a farmer’s peach orchards, the Eighth Circuit ...
Viewpoint: France’s Le Monde leads media frenzy hyping flawed study claiming trace pesticide residues wipe out benefits of eating fruits and vegetables
A recent study suggested that pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables could counteract some of the nutritional benefits of consuming ...
Should California ban the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid? Here are arguments pro and con
Should imidacloprid be banned? Here's an argument for and against banning the pesticide in California ...
Viewpoint: ‘Farmers don’t need nitrogen fertilizers at all’? — Why easy solutions to cut down on chemical fertilizers don’t work
Clover, it turns out, can be used to fix nitrogen and boost yields in pasture forages for dairy cows. Who ...
Glyphosate: A timeline of the controversial weedkiller’s history and legal troubles
How did we get here? The timeline below includes some of the more significant events, starting with Monsanto's founding ...
GLP Podcast: Epoch Times’ glyphosate hysteria debunked; Paxlovid rebound; Melatonin isn’t for kids?
Paxlovid is the best COVID-19 therapy we have. So why are some patients displaying symptoms after treatment with this anti-viral ...
$87 million judgment holding Bayer liable for cancer allegedly caused by Roundup glyphosate weedkiller upheld by Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court let stand an $87 million award against Bayer AG, rejecting the company for the second time in a week ...
With fertilizer shortage threatening to cripple agriculture, farmers in Niger turn to nutrient-rich human urine
In a bid to revive dying crops in Niger Republic, scientists are using a mineral-rich, low-cost and easily accessible fertilizer ...
Viewpoint: No, trace pesticides do not make fruits and vegetables unhealthy
A recent article in the French daily Le Monde speaks of a study with “impressive” conclusions. Reading it, there is reason to ...
Viewpoint: Rightwing The Epoch Times circulates anti-GMO hysteria and disinformation usually found on the ‘natural’ left
We frequently receive requests to comment on specific news stories. These are usually examples of journalists or pundits commenting on ...
Bayer’s appeal to set aside suits alleging it‘s liable for deaths linked to glyphosate weedkiller rejected by US Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on [June 21] rejected Bayer AG's bid to dismiss legal claims by customers who contend its ...
Federal appeals court rules EPA must reconsider safety of Bayer’s glyphosate weedkiller under Endangered Species Act
A federal appeals court on [June 17] rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer ...
Viewpoint: ‘Defenders of modern agriculture should vehemently push back against the notion that today’s food model undermines bee health or human health’
Since the introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides – the pesticides blamed for bee death – in the mid-90s, bee populations have ...
GLP Podcast: Teenage psychopaths? Cancer-free smokers; Pesticide propaganda in Europe
Are young people more likely to display narcissistic and psychopathic traits? If so, why? A recent study has proposed intriguing ...
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 ...
