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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Why farmers are digging in their heals in defense of the weedkiller glyphosate demonized by activists
Glyphosate has become a scapegoat in a broader campaign against modern production practices. Activists have cherry picked data, amplified worst-case ...
GLP Spaces on X: Misinfo from the mainstream. Hypocritical pediatricians blast RFK Jr.’s anti-vaxx stance while flouting consensus on GMOs
You can't be a stalwart defender of scientific consensus, expertise and evidence-based medicine while taking contrarian positions on critical public ...
Sen Cory Booker aligns with MAHA, RFK, Jr., his discredited Children’s Health Defense, and Environmental Working Group to hold companies liable for alleged injuries from crop chemicals found safe by US regulators
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) is receiving major support from anti-“Big Ag” activist organizations for his newest bill, the Pesticide ...
Rejecting the suggestions of RFK, Jr.’s MAHA report targeting crop chemicals, White House says it won’t pursue tighter pesticide restrictions
Trump administration officials say the White House has no plans to crack down on pesticides in farming, despite a report ...
EU orders further studies on glyphosate in the wake of controversial study in which activist scientists used cancer-prone rats and found some developed cancer
The European Commission has told two EU agencies to run a study for up to 21 months to figure out ...
Viewpoint: MAHA supporters and anti-vaxxers are spreading chemophobia through the mainstream
A broad spectrum of “sunscreen truthers” on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook have peddled the trope that sunscreen causes ...
Viewpoint: ‘Inciting personal injury litigation’: UN’s cancer hazard agency stumbles again in classifying gasoline as dangerously carcinogenic, echoing glyphosate fiasco
In a move that will boost the spirits of trial lawyers and climate activists the world over, a branch of ...
GLP podcast: Politics over science. Why food safety debates are driven by ideology
America's ferocious battles over food safety and nutrition are often driven by politics and other ideological considerations rather than cold, ...
Viewpoint: A disturbing conversation about glyphosate with a science-denier
The intent of my previous column on glyphosate was simply to encourage some critical thinking. In it, I wrote: Glyphosate is an ...
What chemicals are used in organic farming?
[N]atural agricultural chemicals ... provide organic farming with pest management, nutrient supplementation and soil improvement solutions. [These include:] ... Pyrethrins: ...
Viewpoint: A world without glyphosate would mean more weeds, soil erosion and carbon emissions, and smaller crop yields
Too much rain can devastate a crop. That was especially true when cultivators were the primary weed technology. It was ...
GLP spaces on X: The ‘Dirty Dozen,’ dissected
Each year the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) "Dirty Dozen" list ranks fruits and vegetables with the supposedly highest pesticide residues, ...
Unpacking RFK, Jr.’s claims: Are canola, soy bean and safflower oil feeding the obesity epidemic and poisoning America?
[Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.] has said...vegetable oils — extracted from the seeds of plants, like canola, soybean and safflower — are ...
Viewpoint: ‘Alarming new research on glyphosate?’ Here’s how the Ramazzini Institute distorts science, spreads alarmism and fuels baseless lawsuits
According to a new study, glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide in the world, is extremely carcinogenic. In this study, ...
Is the American Academy of Pediatrics a stalwart defender of science and vaccines or a biotechnology science rejectionist? Sadly, it’s both
In a rare but pointed rebuke of federal health policy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) filed a federal lawsuit ...
The science of seed oils: Healthy or harmful?
The Dirt Seed oils have become the most recent food to avoid. Despite being a staple in every diet and ...
GLP podcast: Has MAHA made vaccine denial a right-wing cause?
The ongoing measles outbreak in the U.S. has fueled intense speculation about how politics influences vaccine hesitancy. With over 1,200 ...
Olympics on Steroids: The juiced enhanced games are coming in 2026. But that’s not the most bizarre gimmick
[James] Magnussen, a triple Olympic medalist and world champion in the 100-meter freestyle, had been retired from professional sports for ...
‘Forever chemicals’ are not forever: Bacteria easily cultivated in a lab break down PFAS
A research team from Catholic University in Piacenza has isolated about 20 bacterial species from PFAS-contaminated soil in the Veneto region. These ...
Viewpoint: Correlation vs. Causation: How epidemiological studies misleads regulators, misrepresents risk and feeds chemophobia
In 1915's The Temperance Program, Thomas F. Hubbard et al. laid out the progressive case for why alcohol needed to ...
GLP Spaces on X: Will MAHA harm or help US health care?
The MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement has big plans. "We are leading the charge to transform America’s approach to ...
Viewpoint: Junk science in Canada: Courts confront rise in bogus claims by environmentalists
When it comes to government policy and lawmaking, there may ultimately be only one way to unravel the mysteries of ...
RFK, Jr. is targeting chemical food additives. What does science tell us?
In a video posted to YouTube [last] September, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at U.S. health agencies that he said have ...
Synthetic, genetically engineered, and ‘Made in China’: Busting supplement industry myths about the natural wonders of Vitamin C
Dear Vitamin C Aficionados: This article isn't about whether you should take the stuff [1]. Instead, it raises some questions about what ...
Food and farming industry pushes back against RFK, Jr.’s MAHA-targeting of agricultural chemicals
The MAHA movement argues that a heavily consolidated and industrialized U.S. food industry is the central factor in Americans’ high ...
GLP podcast: Science journalism is a mess. Here’s how to fix it
Science journalism is in disarray as reporters pollute their coverage with politics, promote conspiracy theories, and bungle basic scientific facts—undermining ...
Viewpoint: From farm to famine? Kenya risks a Sri Lanka-style collapse over pesticide politics
In 2025, Kenya, its farmers, and its consumers will deliver a world demonstration of why scientists have been pleading for ...
