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.
France pledged to ban glyphosate, but regulators say phasing out weedkiller probably isn’t possible
The long-awaited publication of the latest report from the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) concerning ...
99 percent of almost 10,000 foods below legal pesticide safety levels, USDA finds
The EPA sets “tolerances” to ensure that any potential residues resulting from strictly regulated pesticide use are safe for consumers ...
Bayer close to resolving 88,500 glyphosate-cancer suits, but settlement costs rise by $2 billion
[Bayer’s legal bills] keep rising with costs to handle future [Roundup] lawsuits expected to surge to $2 billion. The German ...
Social media misled you about pesticides. A farmer explains what they are and how they protect our food
It seems that too many people don’t realize that herbicides are considered a type of pesticide. All herbicides are pesticides, ...
Don’t eat it if you can’t pronounce it? Avoiding ‘scary-sounding ingredients’ won’t make you healthier
"If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!” We are told that steering clear of scary-sounding ingredients is a simple, ...
US sugar industry flips the GMO script, hyping eco-benefits of glyphosate-tolerant crops
[The US] sugar beet industry is flipping the narrative, capitalizing on what was once its Achilles heel — its universal ...
EPA backs Bayer appeal in glyphosate-cancer case, arguing juries shouldn’t override expert scientific judgments
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is backing the Monsanto Co.’s claim that federal law should have pre-empted a lawsuit alleging ...
EPA re-registers drift-prone dicamba weedkiller, relieving some farmers and frustrating others who fear crop damage
Farmers can continue to use dicamba for five years, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said [October 27], offering certainty to cotton ...
Epigenetic breeding could yield enhanced crops—and end run public’s fear of ‘GMOs’
Novel grafted plants — consisting of rootstock epigenetically modified to “believe” it has been under stress — joined to an ...
Bayer urges court to overturn $20M glyphosate-cancer verdict, objecting to ‘unreliable expert testimony’
Roundup manufacturer Monsanto urged three Ninth Circuit judges on [Ocotber 23] to overturn a jury’s verdict finding the weed killer ...
Glyphosate on trial: California Supreme Court rejects request from Bayer to review first Roundup-cancer verdict
Bayer AG’s Monsanto Co. lost a bid for the California Supreme Court to review the first multimillion-dollar jury award to ...
Replacing pesticides: Expected chlorpyrifos ban spurs development of more sustainable insecticides
A broad-spectrum insecticide that kills all arthropods in its path, chlorpyrifos was used for decades throughout the US .... But ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s pro-organic Farm to Fork policy will ‘cripple’ an already inefficient agriculture system
The EU’s “Farm to fork (F2F) strategy” announced in May, is “the heart of the “Green Deal,” a kind of ...
Podcast: Regulate all food chemicals? Gin and tonics going extinct; GMO pineapple is here!
There are thousands upon thousands of chemicals in food. Should we regulate them all, could we even do it? Gin ...
‘Rethinking Monsanto’: Ex-GMO skeptic explains what he got wrong about Big Ag and the pitfalls of plant breeding
Beginning in 2010, I embarked on a slow-motion conversion from GMO skeptic to advocate as I began developing a more ...
Despite federal court ruling, California may put Prop 65 cancer label on glyphosate weedkiller
On October 6, 2020, the California Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (DARTIC) announced it will be meeting on December 11, ...
Insect-resistant GM eggplant could boost Philippines’ crop yields 192%, reduce pesticide use 48%
Eggplant is an economically important vegetable in the Philippines, where its production accounts for nearly one-third of the total volume ...
Bayer, BASF claim new chemical mixed with drift-prone dicamba weedkiller can minimize off-target damage
Chemical makers Bayer AG and BASF are pushing to keep a controversial weedkiller on the market after a federal court ...
GM insect-resistant Bt cotton boosted India’s crop yields? Activist study says no, but crop biotech experts say yes
Was the introduction of transgenic (GMO) cotton seeds to India in 2002 the beginning of the renaissance of the country's ...
Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging that ‘natural’ apple juice shouldn’t contain trace pesticides
On October 6, 2020, a California judge dismissed an amended complaint alleging that apple juice and applesauce products sold by ...
Philippines poised to embrace gene-edited animals? Lawmakers debate rules for ‘safe’ use of modern biotech
Masbate Rep. Elisa “Olga” Kho has cited the importance of animal biotechnology in improving the health and welfare of animals ...
Nitrogen fertilizers are jeopardizing climate goals, new study finds
The expanding use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is pushing nitrous oxide emissions to levels that jeopardize climate goals and ...
European countries can ban pesticides even if approved by EU, continent’s highest court rules
Europe’s highest court [European Court of Justice, ECJ] has concluded that member states have the right to ban pesticides even ...
France enacts more glyphosate weedkiller restrictions as it moves toward full ‘phase out’ by 2021
France’s health and environment agency announced restrictions on weedkiller glyphosate in farming, but stopped short of a full ban in ...
GM crops can slash Africa’s pesticide use: Insect-resistant cowpea field trial shows farmers how
A team of scientists developing Bt Cowpea at CSIR-SARI organized a field day at its confined field trial site in ...
France poised to suspend neonics pesticide ban to help farmers, over objections from Greenpeace
French lawmakers on Tuesday (6 October) approved a draft bill allowing sugar beet growers to use pesticides that are banned ...
Regulate all chemicals in food? Two experts say that’s an ‘absurd (and impossible) exercise’
A recent CNN article about the FDA oversight of chemicals in foods is puzzling. Author Sandee LaMotte regurgitates a ludicrous demand by ...
