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.
Monsanto defends its internal testing in Roundup cancer trial
A Monsanto scientist denied on [July 24th] that the company based its assertions that its Roundup weed killer doesn’t cause ...
Several European Union nations rebuked over efforts to sidestep neonicotinoid ban
At least two EU countries continue to use emergency exemptions to sidestep a ban on pesticides that scientists believe harm ...
Are farmers struggling to control weeds in the face of dicamba herbicide restrictions?
If there is one thorn in the side of Missouri farmer Tommy Riley, it’s pigweed. ...Riley told members of the ...
Viewpoint: Why the French media still defend Séralini’s discredited GMO rat tumor study
In recent months, the [French] media has had little interest in reporting the results of three large-scale studies that reviewed and confirmed the safety ...
Video: Cancer patient testifies against Monsanto in Roundup weed killer trial
It is the first time St. Louis-based Monsanto Company has had to defend one of its products, Roundup, in front ...
Soybean farmer sues dicamba manufacturers, seeks injunction on sale of popular herbicide
A northeast Nebraska farmer has sued herbicide manufacturers, saying his neighbors’ use of the company products damaged his soybean crop ...
Kazakhstan ‘goes organic’ to compete in $90 billion non-GMO food market
Kazakhstan is tapping growing consumer demand for organic crops to help it better compete in the food-export market. The country ...
Roundup trial: Monsanto lawyers grill expert witness for omitting key details around alleged glyphosate-cancer link
Lawyers for Monsanto attempted on [July 20th] to undermine a Chicago oncologist’s opinion that its Roundup weed killer caused a ...
As fears of ‘rogue’ GMO wheat ease, Japan lifts ban on Canadian imports
One day [in] July [2017], a contractor noticed a few stalks of wheat growing by the side of an access ...
Amid activist claims Germany colluded with Big Ag to soften glyphosate regulations, Europe may switch evaluation responsibility to France
Monsanto’s quest to keep its controversial weedkiller Roundup on the European market faces another challenge. The European Commission is pushing for ...
Despite anti-GMO ‘whispering,’ Bangladesh says ‘science-based information’ will guide its biotech policy
Bt eggplant, or brinjal as it’s known in Bangladesh, is the first genetically engineered food crop to be successfully introduced ...
Viewpoint: There’s no one ‘butterfly-killing bogeyman’ to blame for declining monarch populations
“When you look at the 25-year trend, it seems quite dire,” [Anurag] Agrawal, a Cornell University professor of ecology and ...
Could commercial herbicides made from fungi bridge sustainability gap between organic and conventional agriculture?
Nature is not just out to kill us, it is out to kill itself, in the interest of surviving over ...
Sri Lankan government lifts glyphosate ban to aid tea growers ‘plagued’ by weeds, slumping production
The [Sri Lankan] government has lifted [a two-year] ban on glyphosate for all crops throughout the country. ... The Government ...
Viewpoint: German farmers say neonicotinoid ban throws them back into ‘plant protection stone age,’ forces use of ‘dangerous’ pesticides
With the ban on the three most effective insecticides [Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam] for the protection of beet seeds, beet ...
Increasing cases of crop injury could threaten future use of effective herbicide dicamba
Half way through the year, complaints about the weed killer dicamba are increasing. This could mean efforts to stop the ...
Viewpoint: Neonics don’t threaten bees, ban could raise food prices, increase toxic insecticide use
Neonicotinoid insecticides aren’t the problem for bees that activists have made them out to be. In fact, years of monitoring ...
Viewpoint: Organic industry allies ignore expert witness’s hypocrisy in Roundup weed killer trial
Chris Portier, Ph.D., an activist statistician who pushed to get the common herbicide ingredient glyphosate listed as a "hazard" for ...
Sustainable rewards worth the risks? India cracks down on farmers growing unapproved glyphosate-tolerant cotton
A high-level expert panel set up by the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has found that nearly 15% [of the ...
‘Farmbots’: Precision farming with agricultural robots could boost crop yields, cut chemical use
According to both the Government and farmers, the future of farming is one in which small robots will have a ...
Roundup trial: Monsanto lawyer, expert witness spar over glyphosate-cancer link
On the fourth day of a jury trial over whether Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer caused a Bay Area man’s deadly ...
‘Dirty Dozen’ list of ‘pesticide-poisoned’ fruits, vegetables used to be her bible, but Huffington Post food writer now sees it as more scare than science
It’s that time of year again, when the nonprofit advocacy organization Environmental Working Group publishes its annual list of the ...
Viewpoint: In act of retribution, organic trade group sues Ben & Jerry’s for false advertising
The Organic Consumers Association is up to its old tricks again and has filed a suit against Vermont-based Ben & ...
Despite judge’s finding of ‘weak’ evidence glyphosate causes cancer, Monsanto could face Roundup litigation onslaught
Hundreds of lawsuits alleging Roundup weed killer caused cancer cleared a big hurdle [July 10] when a U.S. judge ruled ...
20 years of biotech crops generated $186.1 billion in economic, ecological and health gains, studies show
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) and PG Economics Ltd. released new studies highlighting the continued ...
Viewpoint: The 4 Ps threaten bee health—parasites, poor nutrition, pathogens and pesticides
Experts believe that multiple factors must be at play in the bees’ plight. The main suspects are referred to as ...
Use of illegal, older varieties of dicamba herbicide blamed for causing crop damage across 10 states
For some farmers and weed scientists, puckered leaves on certain crops and other plants have become a familiar summertime sight ...
