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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Bayer’s legal woes multiply as chemical giant battles onslaught of glyphosate, dicamba lawsuits
Many Bayer AG investors didn’t realize just how much litigation risk they were getting when the German company spent $66 ...
As US legal battle over Monsanto’s Roundup rages, Brazil health officials say glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer
Analysts at Brazil health agency Anvisa have determined that the weed-killer glyphosate does not cause cancer while recommending a series ...
EU neonicotinoid insecticide ban, Brexit prompt some UK farmers to grow less risky crops to protect yields
The [UK] Paterson Farming Partnership is a joint venture between Worstead Farms, run by brothers Gavin, Bruce and Alex Paterson, ...
Activist group finds drinking 140 glasses of wine a day could expose alcoholics to potentially harmful levels of the herbicide glyphosate
A new report by the public-interest advocacy group U.S. PIRG reveals that tests of five wines and 15 beers....found traces of the controversial ...
Monsanto lawsuit: Judge threatens to ‘shut down’ plaintiff’s attorney for presenting banned evidence in glyphosate-cancer trial
Monsanto is facing its first federal trial over allegations that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, but a US judge has blocked ...
Nigeria has its first GMO cowpea. The battle for public acceptance is just getting started
A war of words over a recently-released genetically modified cowpea has divided the Nigerian public and raised concerns about the ...
Roundup on trial: Second glyphosate-cancer lawsuit heads to federal court
Bayer AG is set to face a second U.S. jury over allegations that its popular glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup causes ...
Talking Biotech: Epidemiologist Geoffrey Kabat debunks flawed glyphosate-cancer meta-analysis. Were the mistakes deliberate?
A skeptical look at the latest glyphosate-cancer study reveals critical errors ...
US farmers to plant new biotech soybeans as DowDuPont receives final international regulatory approval
DowDuPont Inc has won the final international regulatory approval needed, from the Philippines, for a global launch of a new ...
US Rep Earl Blumenauer introduces bill to suspend neonicotinoid insecticide use, citing ‘devastating’ impact on bees
On [February 21], Congressman Earl Blumenauer [of Oregon] introduced legislation he said will help bees by suspending the use of insecticides that ...
Viewpoint: Pervert science at your peril—anti-GMO campaigners, vaccine deniers and ‘bee-pocalypse’ scaremongers find common ground in ‘evidence rejectionism’
Widespread misunderstanding of the nature of science and the confirmation bias spawned by social media and the internet can have ...
‘Unintended consequences’: UK restrictions on neonicotinoid insecticides may have harmed bees
One of Britain’s biggest beekeepers says he must relocate hundreds of hives because cabbage stem flea beetle has destroyed so ...
Trace amounts of glyphosate in Canadian foods spur more questions about safety of Monsanto’s Roundup
Data obtained and analyzed by the CBC show that more than one third of the [food] samples tested by the ...
Séralini pseudoscience syndicate: Lessons learned from decade-long assault on biotechnology orchestrated by French geneticist
A look at Séralini's modus operandi can equip journalists and other interested observers to turn a critical eye on Séralini ...
Glyphosate meta-analysis appeared to raise legitimate concerns that Monsanto’s Roundup may cause cancer, then Genetic Literacy Project pointed out study’s fatal flaws
In the new study, by a group of scientists from UC Berkeley, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the University of ...
How global climate change makes it harder to farm: Higher CO2 levels, warmer temperatures may spur glyphosate resistance in some weeds
Herbicides are the most commonly used means of controlling weeds. Recently, there has been growing concern over the potential impacts ...
‘Eco-friendly’ fungus capsules could help potato farmers fight destructive wireworm pest
An EU-funded INBIOSOIL project has developed a new, eco-friendly method to control wireworm in potatoes that can be used in ...
Despite controversial new study, there’s still no evidence Monsanto’s Roundup causes cancer, epidemiologist says
News stories have exploded recently.... screaming that glyphosate [the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup] is a cancer-causing evil that causes a 41% increase in people ...
Will Canada rethink its proposed ban on neonicotinoid pesticides?
Health Canada scientists have been studying water monitoring data, from across the country, and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency may ...
41% glyphosate-cancer increase claim under fire: Did authors of new meta-study deliberately manipulate data or just botch their analysis?
Among other lapses, The Zhang paper does not mention the serious science and ethical questions raised pertaining to IARC’s assessment ...
Why neonicotinoid pesticides don’t deserve a ‘deadly to bees’ label
While some activists blame the popular class of pesticides for bee deaths, research suggests there are many contributing factors. And ...
Video: How Bt insect-resistant eggplant helped farmers in Bangladesh beat back an invasive pest
A new study confirms that genetically modified, pest-resistant Bt eggplant (brinjal) has helped smallholder farmers in Bangladesh greatly reduce their ...
Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer boosts cancer risk? New analysis challenges scientific consensus on glyphosate
Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have published a new scientific analysis of glyphosate (PDF), the active ingredient in Monsanto’s ...
Viewpoint: How ‘lazy journalists’ helped anti-pesticide biologist Tyrone Hayes needlessly scare the public
What do you do when....someone asks to see the raw data that your dubious claims are based on? This was ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why we don’t have to worry about a world without insects
Recent headlines about the coming collapse of the insect world are another case of extrapolation from inadequate data ...
Monsanto weed killer Roundup harms beneficial gut bacteria, lawsuit claims
Monsanto Co. has been sued by thousands of farmers and others who blame their cancers on its massively popular Roundup ...
New Hampshire considers ban on pesticides some claim are toxic to bees
New Hampshire lawmakers on [February 12] will take up a proposal to ban most uses of pesticides that are toxic ...
