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.
Part I: The Clean 18 — Challenging Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen scare survey of pesticide residues on conventional fruits and vegetables
The recent release of the “Dirty Dozen List” by the organic-industry-funded Environmental Working Group has stirred up its annual hornets’ ...
Viewpoint: ‘There are more dangerous chemicals under your kitchen sink than the ‘demon’ glyphosate’ — Here’s why the world’s most popular herbicide is safe
Glyphosate, which is sold as Roundup, often makes the headlines as being the demon pesticide and the cause of all ...
Viewpoint: Why scientists and health experts believe you can ignore the Environmental Working Groups’s Dirty Dozen list
[The Center for Food Safety just released its 2022 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce ‘Dirty Dozen’ list of ‘unsafe’ ...
GMO soil fungi: One way genetically modified barley might help reduce the need for fertilizers
A field trial of genetically modified and gene-edited barley is due to be planted this April. The research is evaluating ...
Viewpoint: How Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen undermines healthy food consumption
To be able to “vote with your fork” is a privilege that not everyone has, and the “Dirty Dozen” list ...
Mexico’s plan to ban glyphosate by 2024 is already backfiring against farmers, consumers and the environment
The Mexican government is still on track to ban completely by 2024 the use of glyphosate which is paired with ...
Despite controversy and rising prices, farmers in Pennsylvania Amish country recommit to using glyphosate for no-till, reduced carbon-release farming
Sharp price increases for glyphosate and other chemicals, not to mention fears over shortages, will likely mean drastically higher input costs this ...
Viewpoint: Why we need to replace the current pesticide assessment system
The more we spray, the fewer insects are allowed to thrive. There is also that bird populations are affected by ...
Milestone in plant breeding? New wheat variety might not require neonicotinoids or other chemical protectants
Every once in a while, there’s an innovation in plant breeding that sets down a true milestone. Barley yellow dwarf ...
Bt cotton gives Kenyan farmers a reason to smile again
“Wow, wow.” I couldn’t stop saying wow as we caught a first glimpse of a field covered with what appeared ...
Viewpoint: How do pesticides impact bees? Influential University of Illinois entomologist Mae Berenbaum calls for approvals to include pre-release real-world monitoring
Whether a pesticide is toxic to bees or not would seem to be a straightforward question, easily resolved in science ...
Dangerous levels of glyphosate in urine? Junk science paper based upon a large-scale anti-GMO testing campaign
The public and journalists – the consumers of information about health – need to be aware of something that researchers ...
Video: What would a world without herbicides look like? Purdue’s Jayson Lusk addresses how biotechnology can address climate change and reduce food insecurity
Pesticide shortages, increased labor costs, and transportation bottlenecks are raising the cost of food across the EU. With war roiling ...
Future farming to feed 10 billion: Moving from chemical to biological era of agriculture
”We cannot feed 10 billion people in a sustainable way using the current production systems. We can’t. We need to ...
Viewpoint: Why we should think twice about reflexively banning agricultural pesticides
Is banning pesticides in the public’s best interest? The answer is an emphatic yes when the science indicates that exposures ...
‘The Insect Crisis’ book review: From climate change to habitat loss to chemicals, what’s behind the die off of insect populations?
When was the last time you had to clean bug splatter from your windshield? This ritual was once an inevitable ...
GLP Podcast: mRNA flu shot coming soon? Dogs really can’t eat chocolate; Marijuana-like ‘runner’s high’
mRNA technology gave us COVID-19 vaccines. Could it also yield more effective flu vaccines? Yes—maybe as soon as next year ...
Viewpoint: Politicians are making a mess of regulating agricultural pesticides
In January, the New Jersey legislature enacted restrictions on most uses of neonicotinoids. The bill effectively bans about 70 percent of neonic ...
Viewpoint: UN sub-agency IARC bungled cancer designation of glyphosate and undermined science of assessing carcinogens
Testing for chemical carcinogenicity using animals is timely, costly, and for some, morally wrong. Non-traditional data consists primarily of quick, ...
EPA poised to extend use of four neonicotinoid pesticides, rebuffing environmentalist claims they endanger bees
The US Environmental Protection Agency is poised to allow the use of four of the most devastating chemicals to bees, ...
Viewpoint: Human activity and modern agriculture are threatening pollinators
The arrival of the Anthropocene has brought with it considerable challenges for wild bees. In particular, the spread of industrial ...
‘Organic label doesn’t always mean safer,’ study finds: Spinosad insecticide more damaging to beneficial insects than synthetic imidacloprid neonicotinoid banned in Europe
Very low concentrations of the popular organic insecticide spinosad have profound effects on beneficial insect species, including vision loss and ...
Viewpoint: Are we overusing agricultural chemicals? Not if we we want increased yields, lower prices and more sustainable practices
We would be remiss to ignore the positive effects that modern crop protection has had for us. Without pesticides, crop losses ...
Viewpoint: EPA wants to ban Enlist herbicides in certain areas to protect beetles. Here’s why one farmer believes that’s misguided
Soybean farmers like myself rely on special seeds and herbicides to help us grow crops more efficiently and make environmentally ...
RNA vaccines for plants?
The threat of COVID-19 spurred innovation at unprecedented rates. Moderna and Pfizer’s RNA vaccines were approved in about a year ...
New Zealand scientist challenges ‘scaremongering’ about herbicide glyphosate
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup™, is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It affects a specific enzyme ...
Viewpoint: How anti-GMO activists use select studies to ‘prove’ glyphosate is ‘dangerous’ and unnecessarily scare the public
If you want to show that any chemical is dangerous, here's a three-step process that will consistently yield the desired ...
