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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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 ...
Here’s how GMO crops preserve soil health and curb climate change
A healthy agricultural production system cannot exist without healthy soils. Aside from being the habitat of diverse organisms that contribute ...
German sugar beet planting drops nearly 3% following neonicotinoid insecticide ban
German farmers are estimated to have reduced sugar beet sowings by 2.8 percent to about 379,000 hectares for the 2019 ...
‘Green wave’: Environmentalist gains in EU elections could cut farmer access to key pesticides
The ‘green wave’ which saw environmentalist parties make major gains across the continent in the European elections could threaten the ...
Spider venom and fungi: The next generation of ‘eco-friendly’ biopesticides
The global population is predicted to reach 9.77 billion people by the end of 2050, before peaking at more than ...
‘Small victory’ for Bayer: Judge says firm can move upcoming glyphosate trials to farm states
In a win for Monsanto following more than $2 billion in cancer-trial losses in California against the company’s popular weed ...
Viewpoint: ‘Toxic’ chemicals fueled post-WWII economic boom in the United States—here’s why that’s a problem
[B]efore [World War II], the vast majority of Americans lived in cities, or they lived on farms. Suddenly, with all ...
Canada’s neonicotinoid insecticide rules haven’t hit farmers, and tighter regulations coming?
Health Canada’s April decisions on three neonicotinoid insecticides won’t change much for growers this year — but it also won’t ...
How pink bollworm may evolve resistance to GMO Bt crops
Insect resistant Bt crops are widely grown in many countries all over the world to prevent pest attacks in highly ...
Glyphosate-cancer lawsuits spur development of next-generation weed killers
"Total fear and shock." That's how Andrew Kniss, a weed scientist at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, describes the ...
Viewpoint: Burkina Faso’s declining cotton yields illustrate need for GMO crops
At a forum on biotech crops and the Big Four Agenda at the University of Nairobi on April 24, critics ...
Bayer trial: Judge picks high-profile attorney Ken Feinberg to mediate Roundup-cancer settlement negotiations
A U.S. judge overseeing Roundup-cancer lawsuits against Bayer AG provisionally appointed high-profile mediator Ken Feinberg to lead settlement negotiations over ...
Vinegar, Epsom salts, Dawn weed killer mix superior ‘organic’ alternatives to synthetic herbicides? ‘Nonsense,’ gardening expert says
You know, the most wonderful thing about social media and the internet is that everything you read there is true! ...
‘Nature’s pest controllers’: How wasps reduce chemical pesticide use in farming
Scientists have put together a map of the UK's wasp population, showing the distribution of key species. Data recorded by ...
Glyphosate-tainted burgers? Impossible Foods rebuffs Moms Across America’s latest anti-GMO campaign
“Moms Across America” has escalated a year-long campaign against Impossible Foods to push its anti-vaccine, anti-GMO agenda to anyone gullible ...
Wall Street Journal: Costly glyphosate-cancer legal battle one of ‘worst crises’ in Bayer’s 155-year history
Stuck in one of the worst crises in its 155-year history, Bayer AG, the German company that invented aspirin and ...
What might be Bayer’s defense if one of the glyphosate cancer verdicts end up at the Supreme Court?
Bayer AG plans to argue that a $2 billion jury award and thousands of U.S. lawsuits claiming its glyphosate-based weed ...
