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.
Canada to decide on neonicotinoid restrictions this summer
The fate of two neonicotinoid seed treatments, applied to almost all of the canola and corn seeds in Canada and ...
Infamous Seralini GMO rat tumor study debunked by European scientists
Three European studies have disproved Gilles-Éric Séralini’s widely circulated claims that genetically modified maize (corn) induces tumors in rats. Séralini, ...
New GMO cotton variety turns fertilizer into nutrition and weed killer
A newly developed fertilizer system will provide nutrition to engineered cotton crops worldwide and a deadly dose to weeds that ...
How herbicide-resistant GMO soybeans transformed Brazil’s economy
As Brazil grew richer in the 2000s, its agricultural workers left their farms in droves and headed to work in ...
Anti-GMO group: ‘Bayer is now the new Monsanto’
Bayer’s decision to drop the name means Monsanto products like Roundup will still be Roundup, but now they will be ...
Are farmers the key to countering glyphosate fearmongering?
The public conversation around glyphosate is all flowing in one direction. A cluster of environmental campaigners, organic food activists and ...
EU neonicotinoid ban could leave UK sugar beet farmers with no defense against virus
Following the partial neonicotinoid ban on flowering crops in 2013, the latest restriction which was voted on earlier this year, ...
Viewpoint: Pesticide regulations should assess societal context, not just safety
Apart from the inherent scientific complexity, the glyphosate case illustrates a fundamental societal issue. The mere fact that the European ...
Viewpoint: French media’s ‘fake news’ on glyphosate herbicide endangers science in Europe
In Europe, technical matters which should be science-based, such as the authorization of marketing for chemicals or genetically engineered plants, ...
233 scientists call on world’s governments to ‘greatly restrict’ use of neonicotinoid insecticides to protect biodiversity
Continued applications of the most widely used insecticides in the world must be urgently restricted, say 233 scientists in a tightly ...
Viewpoint: Will France stand up for science in battle over glyphosate safety?
In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron held fast with his environmental allies against science and declared they would ban the herbicide ...
Can Joyn Bio’s genetically engineered microbes replace chemical fertilizers?
Big Ag is addicted to nitrogen fertilizers. It’s a massive problem for the global climate, yet it may yield to a ...
Factor GMO: The curious disappearance of the ‘world’s largest international study on GMO safety’
In late 2014, an obscure Russian group called a press conference in London to announce the launch of the “world’s largest ...
Health Canada sticks with phase out of neonicotinoid insecticides although its study finds impact on bees is limited
Health Canada is sticking with its proposal to phase out most outdoor and agricultural uses of a common pesticide, even ...
Why do most farmers buy seeds instead of saving and replanting them?
Saving seed from this year’s crop in order to sow it the following spring is a romantic idea, but most ...
Can Elisabete Weiderpass reform controversial IARC cancer agency?
On Thursday 17th March, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (the IARC), appointed Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass as its new ...
French parliament votes against banning glyphosate herbicide by 2021
France will continue to work towards removing the herbicide glyphosate from use by 2021, President Macron has confirmed, despite MPs ...
Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto approved by US Justice Department after $9 billion spin-off agreement
Federal antitrust regulators have granted agribusiness giants Bayer and Monsanto permission to merge after the two companies agreed to spin ...
Viewpoint: Pro-organic, anti-GMO groups’ lies ‘poisonous’ to fight against food poverty
Across the globe, genetically engineered (GE) crops face opposition from environmental and organic food activists, who claim the crops harm ...
Bad weather to blame for recent uptick in US honeybee loses
Beekeepers in the U.S. reported an increase in honeybee deaths over the last year, possibly the result of erratic weather ...
Mythbusting gone wrong: How the ‘dangerous’ organic pesticide myth began
One of the things that surprised me in researching this story was that I could not find a single organic-approved ...
Viewpoint: Is glyphosate safe? Question complicated by politics, murky science
On one side, activists and advocacy organizations have blamed glyphosate exposure for everything from autism to celiac disease. Agribusiness companies ...
Indigo Agriculture’s microbial seed treatments aim to replace synthetic pesticides
Indigo Agriculture CEO David Perry grew up raising corn and cows on his family's farm in Arkansas. While he wasn't the ...
A behind the scenes look at pesticide use in organic orchards, vineyards and fresh produce
This is part three of a four-part series attempting to separate fact from fiction regarding pesticide use on organic farms ...
Will weed-zapping AI robots disrupt market for herbicides and GMO seeds?
In a field of sugar beet in Switzerland, a solar-powered robot that looks like a table on wheels scans the ...
How GMO crops help farmers, communities and the environment
1. Genetic engineering can be good for farmers.“GE crops are cultivated to help food grow better,” says [Dr. Tamika Sims, director of food ...
Organic foods have less pesticide residue than conventional produce—but does it matter?
I’ve been following these issues for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of evidence that organic foods have ...
