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.
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Indians split over Monsanto’s role in world agriculture
As Monsanto, the Creve Coeur-based seed and pesticide giant, prepares to merge with Germany’s Bayer, observers wonder how the marriage ...
Why Scotts Miracle-Gro decided to phase out neonicotinoid insecticides
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. made an unusual move last year when the company announced it would remove a class of insecticides ...
Neil deGrasse Tyson on why we need GMOs
When it comes to food ... there is one topic that Tyson is constantly addressing: GMOs. Most recently, he discussed genetically modified ...
Did Monsanto engineer campaign to get controversial 2012 Seralini rat study retracted?
A trove of internal documents from Monsanto, recently unsealed in a lawsuit against the agricultural biotech giant, has revealed the ...
Banana wilt, GMOs and Food Evolution: Behind the scenes in Uganda profiling desperate plight of poor farmers
Despite claims by anti-GMO activists who say crop biotechnology mostly benefits big corporations, African farmers and poor people are the ...
Do pesticide seed treatments inadvertently promote weeds?
A researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire has received a $474,679 grant to ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate herbicide a safe method for Pakistani farmers to fend off weeds, boost yields
It is estimated that on an average 20-30 % crop losses are attributable to weed infestation and growth in Pakistan ...
Monsanto barred university researchers from testing ‘drift’ of its new dicamba herbicide — now accused of damaging crops
New versions of the herbicide dicamba developed by Monsanto and BASF, according to farmers, have drifted across fields to crops ...
Monsanto played role in ‘independent’ safety review of glyphosate herbicide, emails show
Dozens of internal Monsanto emails, released on Aug. 1 by plaintiffs’ lawyers who are suing the company, reveal how Monsanto worked ...
Why do consumers prefer organic to conventional produce when both use pesticides?
What gets overlooked by [activist] groups are the reports from the USDA itself that show that even organic foods have ...
Did the National Cancer Institute withhold data showing no links between glyphosate and cancer?
The chairman of a congressional committee has asked the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explain why its National ...
Ecomodernist podcast: Food Evolution film about ‘confirmation bias’ in foodie and anti-GMO community
One of the more surprising reactions to the documentary--and disappointing to scientists--came from organic and agroecology supporters who called it ...
Scientists hoping to prevent two crop-eating caterpillar species from combining to form ‘super pest’
Australian-led research could help save the world's farmers more than $6 billion lost every year to its most voracious caterpillars ...
Central bee health threat—Varroa mite parasite—may be manageable using oregano oil
The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is responsible for the death of millions of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies worldwide. Testing ...
Census shows monarch butterfly population not in decline, but scientists challenge findings, blaming milkweed loss
Monarch butterfly populations have taken a nosedive over the last 20 years, according to researchers who monitor the number of ...
Farmers’ ‘double whammy’: Drift damage from dicamba herbicide and then its subsequent ban
An advanced weed-killing chemical has twice come back to haunt Arkansas farmer John Weiss. The herbicide, known as dicamba, has ...
Viewpoint: Greenpeace, environmental activists spread misinformation on honeybees and pesticides
Bloomberg reports some good news: Honeybee hive health has improved and so-called colony collapse disorder (CCD) is less of a problem ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: Should farmers use vinegar, instead of genetically engineered solutions, to protect crops from drought?
A new study being peddled by anti-GMO activists suggests that table vinegar may be equal or superior to advanced breeding ...
Viewpoint: Why the FDA should not be regulating genetically engineered animals (as drugs, no less)
[Editor's note: Henry Miller is founding director of the FDA's Office of Biotechnology. John Cohrssen is former counsel to the White ...
When genetic engineering is the environmentally friendly choice
The newest generation of genetically engineered crops, using CRISPR gene editing, can help farmers fight pests with only minimal changes ...
25 environmental benefits of GMO sugar? Industry launching ‘fresh look’ education campaign
To try to change consumers’ understanding and perception of GMO crops, the nation’s sugar beet industry is preparing a $4 ...
Canada approves 3 Simplot GMO potatoes that resist blight, reduce fungicide use by half
Three types of potatoes genetically engineered by an Idaho company to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine ...
Sustainable wheat: New GMO variety could reduce need for fertilizers, preserve phosphorus
One of the troubles with agriculture is the need for farmers to apply fertilizer. The plants don't soak up all ...
US honey bee population rose 3 percent in last year as colony collapse disorder concerns ease
The number of U.S. honeybees, a critical component to agricultural production, rose in 2017 from a year earlier, and deaths ...
Turkey approves GMO corn, soybeans for animal feed
Turkey’s Biosecurity Council has approved the use of three types of genetically modified soybeans and one type of genetically modified ...
What happens when public realizes organic foods grown using pesticides, more prone to contamination?
Here are some shockers about how the “organic foods” phenomenon is costing you more, making foods less safe and costing ...
Monsanto glyphosate case: Select documents suggest company tried to influence public debate over weed killer
Documents released [August 1, 2017] in a lawsuit against Monsanto raised new questions about the company’s efforts to influence the news media ...
