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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Coronavirus boosts likelihood of food shortage in Kenya as farmers battle crop-destroying locust swarms
Several counties are battling new desert locust invasions despite the ongoing spraying of hatchlings .... Farmers have urged the government ...
Can we immunize our food supply the same way we combat deadly diseases with vaccines?
In 16th century China, physicians found that inoculating healthy individuals with pus or dried scabs from someone infected with smallpox, ...
Existing research may downplay environmental benefits of organic farming, new study claims
The environmental effects of agriculture and food are hotly debated. But the most widely used method of analysis often tends ...
Activist-led lawsuit alleges EPA glyphosate weedkiller approval violated Endangered Species Act
EPA's interim registration approval of glyphosate in January now faces its first court challenge, as a number of food safety, ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ produce list stokes pesticide fears in an ‘already anxiety-ridden world’
Each year, the pro-organic think tank Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its 'Dirty Dozen,' a list of fruits and vegetables ...
No, we aren’t losing all of our honeybees. And neonicotinoid seed coatings aren’t driving their health problems—here’s why
The meme targeting neonics with the not-all-that vulnerable honeybee as their symbol is a powerful fund-raising tool for activists ...
Viewpoint: There’s no industry conspiracy to corrupt research on bees and neonicotinoid insecticides
There’s a stereotype that industry-funded research is inherently compromised. Perhaps this is true for some specific cases, but for honey ...
Ancient plant genes could increase food production without added fertilizer use, mitigating deadly algal blooms
Some 500 million years ago -- when our continents were connected in a single land mass and most life existed ...
Fall armyworm adds bitter note to farmer’s ‘sweet and sour journey’
For 83-year-old Florence Wambui Theiru, a life of farming in Central Kenya has been a sweet and sour journey. Over ...
USDA produce industry committee recommends EPA suspend registration of drift-prone dicamba herbicides
The USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee has recommended the suspension of dicamba registration to prevent produce crop harm ...
Plaintiff in glyphosate-cancer trial defends original $80 million verdict against Bayer on appeal
A man who won an $80 million verdict over Monsanto Co.’s Roundup [in 2019] defended the award on appeal, including ...
EPA watchdog to determine if agency followed ‘scientifically sound principles’ in approving dicamba herbicides
The inspector general of the EPA is planning to look into whether EPA acted properly when it registered dicamba in ...
Bayer, 6 plaintiffs firms agree on draft settlement terms in Roundup-cancer litigation, but thousands of cases could still go to trial
Bayer has agreed on draft settlement terms with half a dozen law firms representing tens of thousands of plaintiffs alleging ...
Environmental groups say new EPA pesticide approval rules threaten endangered species
The US Environmental Protection Agency is changing how it evaluates the risks of pesticides to endangered species. Rather than rely ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO activists ignore science when debating glyphosate safety
There are encouraging signs that people are beginning to tune out the activist propaganda ...
Opposition to EPA re-approval of Bayer, BASF dicamba herbicides mounts as widespread crop damage continues
Decisions made in the next year will be critical for the future use of the herbicide dicamba, a weed killer ...
Bayer insect‐resistant, herbicide‐tolerant GMO corn poses no risk to human health or environment, EU food safety panel confirms
Following the submission of application EFSA‐GMO‐RX‐014 .... from Monsanto Company the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms of the European Food ...
As more states try to ban chlorpyrifos insecticides, small chemical firms boost production to meet farmer demand
Smaller players in the pesticide industry are angling to take advantage of a new and perhaps finite window to sell ...
Viewpoint: GMOs offer protection against diseases, including cancer, by shielding us from dangerous aflatoxins
How European irony became an African tragedy ...
Viewpoint: How GMO herbicide-tolerant canola accelerated sustainable farming
Who would have fathomed how significant a day in March 1995 would become in the history of Canadian agriculture? On ...
Africa’s locust outbreak: Proof we need GMOs, pesticides and every other tool in the toolbox to combat crop-destroying insects
A perfect storm of conditions led to the locust attack currently tearing through East Africa and Pakistan, where countries are ...
Next glyphosate fight? Colombian farmers challenge government plan to reinstate aerial coca crop spraying
Pedro Arenas is afraid that they'll take flight again. "I expect it could be within the next months," he says ...
EU neonic insecticide ban cut UK canola production from 1.8 million acres to 1.3 million annually
In 2012, U.K. farmers seeded about 1.8 million acres of oilseed rape [canola]. But over the last eight years, acreage ...
Judge cancels second federal glyphosate-cancer trial to aid settlement talks between Bayer, plaintiffs
In an order on [March 5], U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria vacated the March 23 trial date for the second ...
EPA appears likely to re-approve drift-prone dicamba herbicides with added restrictions
When the U.S. EPA reregistered dicamba soybean herbicides for use on Xtend soybeans in 2018, labels were effective for two ...
Will legal ‘assault’ on Bayer’s Roundup weedkiller in US, EU threaten Africa’s access to glyphosate?
A growing assault against glyphosate in the U.S. and Europe is threatening the future of the widely used weed killer ...
Soybean damage caused by Bayer’s drift-prone dicamba herbicide spurs farmers to use competing GMO seeds, weedkillers
Bayer AG’s takeover of Monsanto has been beset by problems, and now a decades-long dominance of the $4 billion U.S ...
