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.
Growing GMO soybeans in South America cut greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 3.3 million cars from the road
This study assesses the economic and environmental impacts that have arisen from the adoption and use of genetically modified (GM) ...
Ancient genetic oddity makes whales and other aquatic mammals deadly susceptible to common pesticides
Over the past 50 million years, a group of small, hoofed mammals gradually evolved into today’s whales and dolphins. In ...
Viewpoint: IARC’s defenders ignore cancer agency’s flawed research, conflicts of interest
I woke up .... to find an article by Neil Pearce, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, ...
Farmers consider a world without glyphosate—and it’s less than ideal
"More glufosinate, maybe more paraquat." "I would have to find a different burn down chemical, likely paraquat. Would use more ...
Citing food safety concerns, Senator Chuck Schumer demands FDA release glyphosate study
The [FDA] has test results [on the herbicide glyphosate] that’s been popping up in everyday foods like breakfast cereals and ...
The disconnect between predictions of a ‘bee-apocalypse’ and rising bee populations
Media stories around bee-apocalypse and imminent collapse of the human food system require a dose of reality. ... There are ...
Viewpoint: Monsanto is no victim, but Roundup-cancer verdict isn’t backed by science
At the outset, let’s stipulate — as the lawyers might say — that the chemical giant Monsanto is not well ...
Roundup for breakfast? Checking the math on claims that glyphosate infects breakfast foods
No one wants .... to give their children a breakfast that is contaminated with weed killer. That’s why a new ...
Plaintiff’s story convinced jury of glyphosate-cancer link, but other courts may rule the herbicide is safe
Despite a San Francisco jury’s verdict [August 10th] that the cancer .... of a Bay Area school groundskeeper was caused ...
Viewpoint: Verdict in glyphosate trial suggests environmental activists are fair-weather fans of science
[A]re scientists supposed to be the folk heroes of environmental activists or not? When the subject is climate change they ...
If Ghana follows Nigeria’s lead and approves Bt cotton, it could jump-start its textile industry
Nigeria’s decision to commercialize Bt cotton has revived hopes for the novel variety in Ghana, its West African neighbor. Science-focused ...
Viewpoint: France’s agricultural policies giving rise to ‘green totalitarianism’
[France] is slowly drowning reason in a mass of ideologies that stifle common sense. On glyphosate, the French Association for ...
In wake of California jury’s glyphosate verdict, New Zealand likely won’t revisit conclusion that herbicide is safe
A lot has been said about a recent court case ruling about Monsanto’s Roundup ..... Adding to the mix, in ...
Viewpoint: Jury’s glyphosate cancer ruling doesn’t change fact that all farmers need pesticides to grow food
It may seem like Judgment Day has come for glyphosate, with a California jury slapping $289 million in damages on Monsanto Co ...
In landmark case, activist attempt to block introduction of GMO corn dismissed by Nigerian High Court
Just two weeks after Nigeria’s federal government approved the commercialization of Bt cotton, scientists scored another victory with a court judgment ...
Glyphosate and cancer—revisited
I’ve already written about this topic back in 2015. Much of the information below is from that original blog post, ...
No link between increased pesticide use and childhood cancer, study suggests
Like the word "chemical," the word "pesticide" has been hijacked and then unfairly demonized. Scientists use the word pesticide to refer to ...
Organic Times: New satire site takes Onion-like look at crop biotechnology activists
Agriculture is a serious topic. While farmers in the developing world struggle to save their crops from pest invasions and ...
Roundup trial: California jury’s glyphosate verdict spurs effort to ban the herbicide in Europe
A landmark court ruling in the U.S. holding Monsanto liable for causing cancer through its glyphosate-based weedkiller is adding fuel ...
Reflections on the glyphosate cancer ruling: Citing court decisions is common tactic among science deniers
Most people have probably seen the recent news that Monsanto has been ordered to pay $289 million following the ruling ...
Canada will phase out two kinds of neonicotinoids in 2021, citing harm to bee populations
The federal government will begin phasing out the outdoor use of nicotine-based pesticides beginning in 2021 ... Neonicotinoids, or neonics, ...
How is India’s organic-only farming experiment in Sikkim going? Peering past the propaganda, not so sustainably.
India's farm sector is in massive flux and strife right now. After a massive ten-day strike in June, Indian farmers ...
Are Roundup-cancer lawsuits about profit, politics or public health?
You might think that the popular weed killer known as Roundup is causing cancers around the world thanks to alarming ...
European farmers already pondering what life without glyphosate might be like
In the aftermath of the European Parliament’s 355-204 vote opposing the renewal of the popular herbicide glyphosate in 2018 for households ...
Does glyphosate cause cancer? Jury says says ‘yes’ but years of research show the herbicide is safe
Can anyone make sense of the debate over glyphosate, the active molecule in the most widely used herbicide [Roundup] in ...
With glyphosate-cancer legal battles poised to escalate, what are the ramifications for agriculture if the herbicide is restricted?
Now that a jury in San Francisco has decided that exposure to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) was responsible for California groundskeeper ...
Federal court orders EPA to ban widely-used pesticide chlorpyrifos
A federal appeals court ruled [August 9th] that the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping a widely used pesticide ...
