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.
Canola farmers push back against Canada’s attempt to ban neonicotinoids
Health Canada is following in the European Union’s footsteps as it moves to ban the use of neonic pesticides due ...
Viewpoint: How the Organic Trade Association flunked Science 101—No, organics are not ‘chemical free’
I recently had an encounter on Twitter with the CEO of the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Laura Batcha. The OTA ...
Monsanto Roundup controversy: Glyphosate unlikely to pose cancer risk, Canada confirms
Health Canada’s primary objective in regulating pesticides is to protect Canadians’ health and the environment. That is why the Department ...
Scientists can identify organic and conventional milk with a simple chemistry test
Food fraud is a substantial problem....because it is nearly impossible for consumers to tell the difference between, say, conventional and ...
Glyphosate scares, Natural News’ Mike Adams unhinged and the ‘bee-pocalypse’: GLP’s 8 most impactful farm and food stories of 2018
These stories shaped a tumultuous year for agricultural biotech ...
Could spider venom replace some synthetic pesticides on the farm?
A major new project will see the use of spiders’ natural toxins to offer a more sustainable approach to crop ...
Plaintiffs may struggle to prove Roundup causes cancer in upcoming glyphosate trials
Bayer’s Monsanto is facing thousands of lawsuits from plaintiffs claiming exposure to glyphosate gave them cancer. Last August, a jury ...
Nigeria could lead Africa to innovative future in agriculture by approving GMO cowpea
Nigeria has commenced a historic process of leading other African nations on smart and innovative agriculture with the recent application ...
With the ‘bee crisis’ fading and European farmers fearing an insect invasion, EU’s neonicotinoid ban fiasco stumbles into the New Year
The future of a controversial agricultural pesticide remains in limbo, thanks to scientific uncertainty and political malfeasance ...
China’s decision to import next generation US-grown GMO herbicide-resistant crops will help American farmers struggling to fight hardy weeds
China’s approval of new genetically engineered crops will open a new front in U.S. farmers’ long-running war against hard-to-kill weeds ...
Viewpoint: How Canadian farmers beat anti-GMO Greenpeace at its own game
I confess I don’t read that many books in a year – preferring shorter Internet features instead – but I’m ...
Federal judge restricts evidence to be presented against Monsanto in upcoming glyphosate-cancer trials
Bayer shares rose by more than 6 percent [January 4], a day after a key court ruling in the upcoming ...
10 GMO memes backed up by science
Anti-GMO activists have churned out memes critical of GM crops and food. Now science enthusiasts are fighting back with fact-based ...
Video: Kenya to begin planting yield-boosting GMO cotton by spring 2020
Cotton farmers in Kenya are set to start planting genetically modified cotton by May 2020, a year later than expected, ...
Over 99% of tested produce ‘well below’ pesticide safety limits, USDA study shows
More than 99% of [fruits and vegetable] samples tested in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program had residue ...
Viewpoint: How to talk to your anti-GMO relatives during the holidays
We all have them. This brother-in-law or sister-in-law, who is very active on social networks. You accepted his friendly request for family ...
Talking Biotech: Environmentalist Erin Brockovich is wrong about Monsanto, glyphosate and cancer
Famous environmental advocate Erin Brockovich says glyphosate causes cancer. Here's why she's wrong ...
Another study challenges controversial, retracted Séralini paper suggesting GMO corn causes cancer
Do you remember those spectacular images of rats fed GMO corn with invasive cancers, so big that the tumors looked like ...
UK farming minister says neonicotinoid ban has boosted pesticide use
[UK] Farming Minister George Eustice has admitted the recent ban on neonicotinoids has actually increased overall pesticide use. Mr Eustice made ...
Fighting weeds: Can we reduce, or even eliminate, herbicides by utilizing robotics and AI?
A quick look at some of the technical strategies being pursued in farming robotics and AI ...
Video: Glyphosate and other health ‘boogeymen’ aren’t causing all diseases
Should John Oliver decide that he’s had enough, perhaps because generating sarcasm is exhausting, there is someone who can slip ...
A farmer’s ‘naughty list’: Activists, celebrities and lawyers who spread the most misinformation in 2018
That’s right: it’s almost time for the jolly old fat man to visit homes around the world to deliver presents ...
Have GMO crops cut herbicide use? A tale of two conflicting studies
We have planted millions of acres of genetically-engineered (GE) crops, a vast majority of which are resistant to herbicides. In ...
French regulators launch re-evaluation of glyphosate products
The National Health Security Agency (ANSES) is tightening [its] grip around the herbicide king [glyphosate]. On December 15, it will withdraw ...
This mom and gardener doesn’t fear glyphosate—and says we shouldn’t either
One of the perpetual battles I’m fighting these days is countering the misinformation about pesticides that gardeners like me responsibly ...
Plant scientist Kevin Folta: Claims about glyphosate in orange juice are ‘brilliantly devious’
Since 2013 the science communication community and wacky food activists learned something important — you can fill a table with creepy numbers, ...
Why some Canadian farmers don’t want glyphosate-tolerant GMO wheat
Delegates attending the Keystone Agriculture Producers’ (KAP) advisory council meeting [in Manitoba] Nov. 12 passed a resolution .... to lobby ...
