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.
Bee-friendly pesticides? Protein discovery could lead to less toxic neonicotinoid insecticides
[S]tudies have shown that not all the compounds are equally toxic to [honeybees], suggesting that there might be variation in ...
New Zealand’s EPA says local scientists’ criticisms of glyphosate rely mostly on ‘media references and opinion’
The [New Zealand] Environmental Protection Authority is shrugging off criticism of its processes by a group of mainly Wellington scientists. Writing in ...
How Bayer-Monsanto merger might impact research efforts to find alternatives to the herbicide glyphosate
Approval of the mega deal in Europe comes in the wake of similar decisions in South Africa, Brazil and China ...
100% organic farming would require ‘Australia-sized amount of extra land’ due to lower yields, no synthetic fertilizer
Organic farming, which prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizers, is often touted as the solution to many of agriculture’s environmental ...
10 years of GMO canola in Australia: How have farmers fared?
When genetically modified crops were first mooted for Victorian farmers, agronomic advantages were the last thing that received publicity. Ten ...
EU approves Bayer’s $57 billion takeover of Monsanto
The European Union has approved Bayer's buyout of Monsanto in a massive agriculture business deal, but says they will have ...
European Commission faces increasing political pressure to back neonicotinoid insecticides ban to protect bees
EU lawmakers have urged the European Commission to convince member states to back its proposal to ban neonicotinoids and avoid ...
Did the EPA and Monsanto conspire to hide glyphosate’s health risks?
A recent op-ed in the Sacramento Bee repeated the debunked conspiracy theory that Monsanto manipulated the EPA to hide evidence ...
Video: Monsanto’s dicamba herbicide fiasco explained
Dicamba… Miracle herbicide? Ultimate boondoggle? Bit of both really… These videos talks about why a 50 years old herbicide is ...
French scientists call on politicians to listen to science, not ‘scare-mongers’ on GMOs, glyphosate
Virginie Tournay, of CEVIPOF, a scientific research institute at the famous Science Po [Paris Institute of Political Studies] published the following article ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide levels ‘well below’ those toxic to aquatic life in Canada, research shows
A study into the presence of neonicotinoids in Canadian waterways suggests a ban or restriction of neonicotinoid seed treatments is ...
Far more toxic than glyphosate: Copper sulfate, used by organic and conventional farmers, cruises to European reauthorization
Over the past months, the European Union and several member nations have vigorously debated re-authorizing glyphosate, the herbicide maligned by ...
Viewpoint: Unlikely alliance between environmentalists, farmers and big ag companies aims to improve soil health
Here are three startling facts about the planet Earth: It currently hosts seven and a half billion people. Its carrying ...
Breakthrough research into how glyphosate resistance evolves might lead to new weed control strategies
Kansas State University researchers have discovered how weeds develop resistance to the popular herbicide glyphosate, a finding that could have ...
Should you pay as much as a 300% premium for organic foods? Avoid EWG’s ‘dirty dozen’?
Have you ever found yourself standing in the supermarket, wondering how to justify forking out $6 per kilo for those ...
Monsanto glyphosate class action suit dealt another blow as judge says evidence of cancer link ‘pretty sparse’
A lawsuit claiming Monsanto Co.’s popular weed killer Roundup causes cancer was dealt a blow by a judge’s conclusions that ...
Should we worry about trace pesticides on fruits and vegetables?
An anti-GMO funded study promoted by Vani Hari--Food Babe--that found parts per billion trace residues of the herbicide glyphosate in ...
Glyphosate traces found in wine: Should we be concerned?
Scarcely a day goes by without some scary story about glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide. ... Because of ...
Viewpoint: California judge blocks spraying of citrus-killing Asian psyllid, courting disaster
“Judge Orders California Agriculture Officials to Cease Pesticide Use" ... The judge’s decision is so scary because he just indefinitely ...
Anti-GMO demonization of conventional agriculture has consequences
The negative rhetoric surrounding GMOs, big ag and non-organic food production is due for a reckoning. At some point, many ...
40 years of data show Bt corn significantly reduces pests, spraying and crop damage, including in nearby non-GMO fields
University of Maryland researchers have pulled together forty years of data to quantify the effects of Bt field corn, a ...
Bad weather, habitat destruction and pesticides are main threats to monarch butterflies
The number of monarch butterflies that overwintered in forests in Mexico fell for a second straight year, experts say. Monday's ...
Viewpoint: Congress should reign in IARC cancer agency’s ‘corruption, distortion and fraud’
In November 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology sent the UN’s International Agency for ...
Study of 54,000 farmers finding no glyphosate-cancer link could sink Monsanto lawsuit
More than 300 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of farmers and others who said that Monsanto's popular weed killer, Roundup, gave them ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR crops poised to help global food insecurity and limit farming’s environmental impact
Increased crop productivity, including the use of genetically modified and other forms of biotechnology crops, leads to more affordable food ...
Viewpoint: Field studies suggest bee health issues not linked to neonicotinoid insecticides
According to the European Union Food Safety Authority, most uses of neonicotinoids represent a risk to wild bees and honeybees ...
Facing potato blight crisis, Bangladesh partners with American universities, Simplot to develop disease-resistant GE variety
Bangladesh’s agriculture sector is mainly comprised of smallholder farmers ... who farm on plots smaller than 1.5 acres. Managing harvest ...
