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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Roundup on trial: Law firms spent $91 million in one year to recruit plaintiffs for glyphosate-cancer suits
In 2019, an estimated $91 million was spent on ads seeking clients to pursue Roundup-related claims, making it the No ...
New crop-destroying locust swarms hitting East Africa ‘nearly every day,’ UN warns in renewed call to fight major food security threat
Dominique Burgeon, FAO’s [the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization] Director of Emergencies and Resilience, said the huge [African] desert locust ...
Nitrogen-efficient rice could preserve crop yields while cutting environmental impact of fertilizer
Nitrogen fertilizer has an indispensable role in increasing crop yields, but on the other hand, it creates a severe threat ...
Viewpoint: UK decision to rescind neonics pesticide restrictions a welcome win for science
Activists like George Monbiot and Dave Goulson are parroting their environmental allies when it comes to neonics, but the science ...
GM plant grows insect sex pheromones as alternative to crop pesticides
Scientists have discovered how to genetically modify the camelina plant to produce pheromone precursors that can control agricultural insect pests ...
With sugar beet production dropping, UK approves emergency neonicotinoids pesticide use to combat beet yellows virus
In 2018 the [UK] government supported new rules which prohibit the outdoor use of 3 neonicotinoids - clothianidin, imidacloprid and ...
‘All foods contain pesticides, and 99.99% are natural’: 8 critical facts about chemicals that help us grow food
In the United States, we live in an affluent culture whose standard of living is high compared to other nations ...
RNA technology gave us a COVID vaccine. It could also help control plant pests without insecticides
With the development of Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, RNA technology has been dominating the news cycle. … A decade ago, ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate and cancer—How ideology and bad science turned a safe herbicide into a carcinogen
Glyphosate has long been considered as an herbicide with no unacceptable health risk. In 2015, its classification as "probably carcinogenic" ...
Viewpoint: ‘Celebrate pesticides!’ Why farmers should defend technology that produces our abundant food supply
Social media is really one of the best ways to reach people nowadays. As much as we might hate to ...
Mexico could completely ban glyphosate weedkiller and GM corn by 2024
The [Mexican] National Commission for Regulatory Improvement published a new draft Presidential decree on Wednesday, [December 9], which orders the ...
Decoded locust genome could help develop ‘intelligent pesticides’ that only kill crop-ravaging insects
The complete set of genetic information for the desert locust could have major international implications for countries in regions such ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate-cancer trials illustrate how tort lawyers undermine science in the courtroom
Should we be fair to chemical manufacturers when they are sued? First of all, who are they? Since everything in ...
French Constitutional Council temporarily rescinds neonic pesticide ban, ‘much to the chagrin of environmentalists’
The Constitutional Council on [Dec 10] gave the green light to the law re-authorizing for three years the use of ...
‘We have to be profitable’: French winegrowers protest costly glyphosate weedkiller restrictions
Three hundred winegrowers gathered in Narbonne [on Dec. 8] at the call of the winegrowers’ union and the FDSEA. They ...
France will pay farmers to give up popular glyphosate weedkiller after proposed ban fails
France will give financial aid to farmers who agree to halt use of glyphosate, the farm ministry said on [Dec ...
With sugar output down nearly 25%, UK beet farmers pressure government to lift ban on neonic pesticides
Sugar beet processor British Sugar said that just over two months into the beet harvesting campaign, white sugar production is ...
GM eggplant helps farmers reduce pesticide use and increase profits, study finds
Bangladeshi farmers significantly reduced pesticide use and increased their profits by growing genetically modified (GM) eggplant, a new study confirms ...
EPA pitches new rules to limit risks linked to chlopyrifos insecticide exposure
EPA announced a proposal on [Dec. 4] to improve the safety of using the insecticide chlorpyrifos. The proposal follows a ...
EU Court of Justice tosses Brussels lawsuit seeking to ban glyphosate weedkiller
Europe’s highest court on [Dec. 3] tossed out a challenge from Brussels to the European Commission decision that lets Europeans ...
Sweeping glyphosate-cancer settlement could leave many plaintiffs with just ‘a few thousand dollars’
Monsanto owner Bayer AG is making progress toward a sweeping settlement of thousands of U.S. lawsuits brought by people alleging ...
Podcast: COVID killed anti-GMO activism? Environmentalists split over glyphosate; Predatory journal Pokémon hoax
Could the COVID-19 pandemic end anti-GMO activism as we know it? Environmentalists are split over the controversial weedkiller glyphosate; some ...
Non-farming glyphosate weedkiller uses likely harm endangered species, EPA finds
More than 90% of endangered species are “likely to be adversely affected” by use of glyphosate, but mostly through non-agricultural uses, ...
Nematode that liquefies pests could cut insecticide use, study shows
The parasitic nematode, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, can significantly reduce losses from invasive slugs. It has been used in Europe as a ...
Gene-edited potato could allow farmers to use ‘less—or even no—insecticide’
A PhD candidate at Michigan State University (MSU), Natalie [Kaiser] specializes in potatoes – in particular, looking at which genes ...
Glyphosate: Deadly ‘poison,’ or biodiversity protection tool? Environmentalists split over controversial weedkiller
.... [A]way from lawsuits and petitions, there are concerns among some opponents of Australia’s invasive weeds that glyphosate – a ...
Ninth Circuit Court refuses to reexamine lawsuit alleging Enlist Duo herbicide approval violated federal law
Enlist Duo’s registration has survived another legal challenge, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to ...
