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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Podcast: More fearful of crop losses than jail, Indian farmers grow illegal GMO Bt eggplant
While Indian farmers have benefited tremendously from growing insect-resistant GMO cotton, the government has outlawed the cultivation of genetically engineered ...
Bt eggplant, Bangladesh’s first GMO crop, controls ‘vicious’ fruit and shoot borer pest, boosts farmer profit sixfold
Eggplant, or brinjal (Solanum melongena), is a popularly consumed vegetable grown throughout Asia that is prone to vicious and sustained ...
Food and farm groups combat activist effort to ban glyphosate from oat production
An effort by the Environmental Working Group seeks to eliminate the use of glyphosate in oat production, but farm and ...
Podcast: Glyphosate-tainted breakfast? Plant geneticist Kevin Folta debunks fear-based CBS Roundup report
Does the network get it right? Not even close, says Folta ...
Bayer asks judge to overturn $2 billion glyphosate-cancer verdict based on ‘inflammatory, fabricated evidence’
Bayer AG has asked a California judge to overrule a $2 billion verdict by jurors who found the company’s glyphosate-based ...
GMO crops could have slowed fall armyworm pest advance across China
A hungry caterpillar that ravages crops is advancing across China and threatening the nation’s vast supply of maize. Scientists are ...
High-yielding wheat boosts chemical use? Study busts popular farming myth
The myth that modern wheat varieties are more heavily reliant on pesticides and fertilizers is debunked by new research published ...
Facing escalating legal costs defending Monsanto’s Roundup, Bayer invests $5.6 billion in alternative herbicide research
Germany's Bayer sought to repair its reputation on [June 14] after damage caused by U.S. litigation over claims its glyphosate ...
‘Children killer’ glyphosate found in Cheerios? Experts dismantle Environmental Working Group’s herbicide food residue study
A few fundamental facts can put this fearmongering claim to rest ...
GMO Bt corn cultivation in EU poses no threat to ‘human, animal health or the environment,’ food safety officials confirm
Following a request from the European Commission, [The European Food Safety Authority] assessed the 2017 post‐market environmental monitoring (PMEM) report ...
Austria considers ban on Bayer’s weed killer Roundup as heated glyphosate-cancer debate continues
Austria is heading toward a likely ban of glyphosate this year after the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) backed the Social ...
Viewpoint: Guardian (UK) ‘Toxic America’ series: Anti-chemical activism masquerades as science journalism
So far, they’ve published no article by or in-depth interview with an actual scientist ...
10% of India’s 12.2 million cotton hectares came from illegal GMO seeds in 2018
A farm group said its members had planted a variety of genetically modified cotton seeds which have not been approved ...
Wheat producers urge EPA to reject activist petition banning pre-harvest glyphosate use on oats
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on a September 2018 petition from several special interest groups to ...
Arkansas must reconsider Monsanto lawsuit challenging dicamba herbicide rules, state Supreme Court says
A lawsuit by Monsanto against the state’s restrictions on the use of dicamba raised valid points and should be reconsidered, ...
EPA moves to streamline process for evaluating pesticide impacts on endangered species
[June 6] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler hosted [a panel of federal regulators] to discuss improving the ...
Biopesticide spinosad, popular in organic farming, may harm honeybees, study shows
Bees have experienced substantial colony losses, which were often associated with insecticides. Besides synthetic insecticides biological compounds such as spinosad ...
GMO insect-resistant Bt corn cuts pesticide spraying in Spain and Portugal by 37%, study shows
Renowned agricultural economist Graham Brookes of PG Economics published the latest findings on the use of insect resistant maize in ...
Glyphosate-tainted tampons threaten public health? 4 pesticide safety agencies say no
Just like other feminine hygiene products, tampons consist mainly of cotton. As cotton is treated with plant protection products, pesticide ...
Viewpoint: UK bans neonic pesticides, then imports neonic-treated crops at expense of its farmers
The key parts of any fully integrated [pest] management system are the building blocks which are integral to a balanced ...
Bayer asks judge to overturn $80 million glyphosate-cancer verdict, citing evidence excluded from trial
Lawyers for Monsanto Co.’s parent company, Bayer AG, have asked the federal judge overseeing a batch of lawsuits accusing the ...
How NPR, Washington Post, Bloomberg and other media botched reporting on EPA’s ‘ban’ of 12 ‘bee-killing’ neonicotinoid insecticides
If headlines are the measure, groups claiming bees are endangered by misuse of pesticides just scored a significant victory ...
Podcast: ‘Endarkenment’—How glyphosate-cancer hysteria spreads despite ample evidence of weed killer’s safety
It's hardly possible to turn on the news, to talk to a farmer, or to visit a nursery without hearing ...
GMO Bt crops slow global spread of fall armyworm pest, but some bugs resistant to insecticidal plants
The fall armyworm is hungry, on the move and scaring farmers the world over. The crop-devouring pest has spread from ...
Will complicated science, ‘rising anti-business sentiment’ cripple Bayer’s glyphosate defense?
The epic $2.055-billion jury verdict against Monsanto over accusations that its blockbuster weed killer Roundup causes cancer is just one ...
Podcast: Glyphosate, cancer and clickbait, Part 2: Epidemiologist Geoffrey Kabat analyzes ‘flawed’ Roundup-cancer verdicts
Does Bayer's weed killer Roundup (glyphosate) cause cancer? Three California juries have said yes, while a global consensus of experts ...
Arkansas bans dicamba herbicide use until fall following more than 1,000 crop damage complaints
As of May 26, farmers in Arkansas can no longer rely on dicamba to kill their weeds. The Arkansas Plant ...
