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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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 ...
Podcast: Glyphosate, cancer and clickbait: Epidemiologist Geoffrey Kabat on how to spot junk science in the news
A Google search for "glyphosate" returns 10,300,000 results—conflicting news stories, opinion articles and videos of varying accuracy. Some of these ...
Bayer to appeal $2 billion glyphosate-cancer verdict with EPA Roundup assessment excluded from trial
Bayer plans to make the EPA’s safety endorsement of a chemical in Roundup central to its case as the company ...
Viewpoint: $2 billion glyphosate-cancer damages highlight why science is ‘no match’ for a persuasive lawyer
Bayer AG hoped it could rely on science to establish the safety of its Roundup weedkiller. But it has clearly ...
Jury in third glyphosate-cancer trial orders Bayer to pay over $2 billion in damages—eighth-largest ever product-defect claim
Bayer AG was ordered to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a California couple that claimed they got ...
Bayer to investigate allegation Monsanto collected data of influential journalists, politicians to influence their views on pesticides
Bayer said on [May 12] it was hiring an external law firm to investigate French media complaints that Monsanto, the ...
Why the ‘chemical free’ organic industry has a ‘pesticide problem’
The organic label is often touted as meaning "pesticide free" and has become a rallying cry for anti-GMO activists. But ...
Vermont Senate approves bill restricting neonicotinoid insecticide use, ‘small step’ towards outright ban
Senators gave preliminary approval .... to a bill that would restrict the use of a class of pesticides considered to ...
French President Macron pledges glyphosate ban, halving of pesticide use by 2025 as EU election nears
Emmanuel Macron’s EU election campaign, dubbed Renaissance, finally released its manifesto for the European election taking place later [in May 2019] ...
Bayer sues former employee for allegedly sharing pesticide trade secrets with competitor
A former scientist at Bayer CropScience shared confidential information with his new employer, which was used to develop commercial biopesticide ...
UK issues emergency use exemption for neonicotinoid insecticide to prevent virus spread in sugar beets
An 120-day emergency authorization has been granted for the use of an insecticide for the control of peach–potato aphids to ...
Nigeria approves two GMO cotton varieties anticipated to boost production from 60,000 to 150,000 tons
Nigeria approved two genetically modified varieties of cotton for use by the nation’s farmers to help boost supply to its ...
Toxic chemicals in your food? How regulation, technological innovation protect consumers from pesticides
Understanding the magnitude and impact of dietary pesticide exposures is a concern for some consumers. However, the ability of consumers ...
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 ...
