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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Higher CO2 emissions, pesticide use raise doubts about sustainability of organic wine
The popularity of organic food and wine is not going away anytime soon. Yet as the European viticultural debate increasingly ...
Washington Post dietitian: Environmental Working Group, activists irresponsibly fan fears by citing ‘scary-sounding’ but harmless chemicals in food
Would you worry if you knew your food contained sucrose octanoate esters or tocopherols? They might sound frightening, but don’t ...
May election offers Europe chance to embrace gene editing and ‘smart agriculture,’ boost sustainable farming
On May 26, Europeans will be able to vote to elect new MEPs. This election will no doubt provide an ...
Roundup on trial: Cancer cases plateaued while glyphosate use exploded, Bayer expert witness testifies
Alva Pilliod’s lymphoma likely had no known cause, but his singularly abnormal immune system allowed it to flourish, an oncologist ...
As IARC glyphosate-cancer finding draws more scrutiny, WHO rebukes agency for ‘undermining’ other UN chemical safety assessments
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was once a serious, revered organization with the somber task of tackling ...
EPA requests public comment on activist proposal to cut glyphosate tolerance in oats
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking for public feedback on a petition by a national environmental research and advocacy ...
Will weed-killing robots replace controversial herbicides on the farm?
Weeds are the bane of a farmer’s existence—the “most important of all crop pests,” as one scientist put it. They ...
Viewpoint: Defending IARC’s designation of glyphosate as carcinogenic undermines evidence-based science
The apologetics of the decision's defenders are becoming all too predictable ...
Neonicotinoid insecticides threaten birds? Friends of the Earth botches the science, entomologist says
Usually the Friends of the Earth emails are about some environmental cause that makes me chuckle. They’re always on the ...
Viewpoint: Why grow GMO crops? Because they cut pesticide use 37%
The development and utilization of GMOs is not well understood by most consumers, causing them to be susceptible to misleading ...
EPA reaffirms glyphosate weed killer safe, calls IARC cancer designation an ‘outlier’ inconsistent with multiple assessments
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on [April 30] reaffirmed its finding that glyphosate, the world's most popular herbicide, is not ...
Podcast: Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ list is an unscientific scam
Scammers are having a moment. On this episode of Biotech Facts and Fallacies, plant scientist Steve Savage tackles scams within ...
Following two glyphosate-cancer lawsuit defeats, here’s how Bayer may shore up its legal losses
San Francisco federal judge Vince Chhabria’s decision to split up the pivotal bellwether trials over an alleged link between Monsanto’s ...
Burkina Faso cotton production plummets after phasing out insect resistant Bt GMO crop
Cotton production in Burkina Faso is continuing its downward slide three years after the nation phased out the use of ...
Costly glyphosate-cancer legal battles spark Bayer shareholder ‘revolt’
You can't blame the Americans at Monsanto any more. Europe's most politically inflammatory chemical — the ubiquitous weedkiller glyphosate — ...
‘Sticky’ pesticides could protect crops, cut harmful agricultural runoff
A problem with many pesticides is that rain washes them off plants and into the soil and groundwater. Now, researchers ...
Viewpoint: EU precautionary pesticide bans threaten sustainable agriculture
Don’t blame it on sunshine or moonlight … Don’t blame it on good times (remember them?) … Don’t even blame ...
Bayer asks appellate court to toss $78 million glyphosate-cancer verdict
Bayer AG on [April 24] asked a California appellate court to throw out a $78 million judgment it was ordered ...
Podcast: GMO insect-resistant cowpea helps Africa combat destructive pests without chemicals
Cowpea is a critical crop in Western Africa. It is consumed by millions of people daily and provides important nitrogen ...
Fresh from European ban victory, anti-chemical activists turn their sights on Canada, targeting neonicotinoid pesticides as a ‘bee killer’
There is an inevitable consequence when technically inexpert politicians and politically-influenced bureaucrats allow public policy to be driven by dogmatic ...
Glyphosate exposure causes ‘transgenerational inheritance of disease’ in rats, study claims, but scientists question data
Washington State University researchers have found a variety of diseases and other health problems in the second- and third-generation offspring ...
Viewpoint: California’s science-challenged Proposition 65 toxic chemical regulation act at center of ‘tort shakedown’ racket
My wife and I recently celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary in South Lake Tahoe, situated on the border of California ...
Vietnam’s glyphosate ban: Beginning of a dangerous global trend?
Vietnam’s decision to ban farmers from using glyphosate is troubling in three ways: it appears to rely on decisions set ...
Drought, neonicotinoid insecticide ban cut EU’s canola yields 18 percent, USDA reports
The European Union is picking a good time to produce its second straight subpar rapeseed crop. The United States Department ...
Food companies pursue ‘glyphosate free’ certification as Roundup-cancer legal battle rages
Companies are increasingly enrolling in a voluntary certification program that provides glyphosate-free labels for their products, as consumers grow more wary of ...
CRISPR-edited wheat could cut China’s toxic weed killer use
Chinese farmers are facing worsening problems with jointed goatgrass (Aegilops tauschii) – a close relative to wheat – growing in ...
Pakistan announces field trials of 85 GMO pest-resistant Bt cotton varieties
The Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) has announced that 93 new cotton varieties will undergo National Coordinated Varietal Trials (NCVT) in four ...
