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.
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 ...
‘Low to non-existent’ safety risks and higher yields support widespread adoption of GMO crops, researchers say
The anticipated world population growth emphasizes a need to produce more food on less land. Cutting-edge technologies, including genetic engineering, can ...
Let’s approach the GMO conversation with ‘cooler heads’ in 2019
As consumers strive to become more aware of food-production terms and practices, they often bludgeon farmers with a body of ...
Time Magazine’s coverage of glyphosate-cancer trial is ‘crying out for balance,’ biologist says
TIME magazine has a story on DeWayne ‘Lee’ Johnston who took Monsanto to court claiming RoundUp caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma ...
How crop biotechnology preserves and promotes biodiversity
Experts attending the [recent] United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Egypt say that adopting smart agronomic practices can play a significant ...
Why fears in Nigeria over the safety of GMO cotton are misplaced
Nigeria is moving forward with plans to boost its textile industry through the approval of its first GM crop, BT ...
First federal glyphosate-cancer trial slated for February 2019
A U.S. judge overseeing the federal litigation against Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit over glyphosate-based weed-killers allegedly causing cancer on [November ...
Bayer appeals $78M verdict in landmark Monsanto glyphosate-cancer lawsuit
Agribusiness giant Monsanto on [November 20] appealed a $78 million verdict in favor of a dying California man who said ...
Glyphosate-cancer lawsuits spur farmers to embrace ‘precision farming’ to help reduce chemical inputs
American juries are well known for the generosity of their awards in civil cases .... So Bayer, a German chemicals ...
Podcast: GLP’s Jon Entine on the spread of ‘chemophobia’
Chemicals are used to grow, process, preserve and package our food, and are ubiquitous in many products and in our ...
California judge orders expedited trial for couple alleging glyphosate caused their cancer
A California judge on [November 15] granted an expedited trial in the case of a California couple suffering from cancer ...
Audio: Greenpeace, UK farmers and chemical industry square off over neonicotinoid pesticide ban
The debate over neonicotinoids continued ... during a BBC Radio segment as farmers, environmentalists and the chemical industry weighed in on ...
