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.
Leaked draft of EU report reveals mixed findings on neonicotinoids and bees
Draft findings from the European Food Safety Authority feed into a long-running, heated and so far inconclusive debate into why Europe’s ...
USDA again probes National Organic Program’s ‘weak’ import controls, putting label’s integrity at risk
The USDA’s National Organic Program completed more complaint reviews and investigations that it received in 2017. It finished work on ...
Viewpoint: 12 ways organic activists mislead consumers
Does the organic food industry use deceptive marketing practices to scare wealthy customers away from conventional agriculture and GMOs? The ...
Viewpoint: Why it’s time to start talking about a glyphosate herbicide replacement
Don’t get me wrong. I fully recognise the current need for Irish tillage and grassland farmers to use the herbicide ...
Activist groups plan to sue Germany, EU over glyphosate herbicide re-approval
Environmentalist groups said on Monday [Dec. 4] that Germany and the European Union had broken the rules when assessing the ...
Viewpoint: Biggest ‘bee apocalypse’ myth? There isn’t one
[D]espite panicked claims of an apocalypse, managed honeybee colonies in the United States have actually been rising since 2008. In fact, as of ...
‘New Girl’ is no farm girl: Zooey Deschanel misinforms on organic food, farming
In Zooey Deschanel’s third “Your Food’s Roots” video, part of a five episode educational series presented by media company Attn:, the ...
Glyphosate, Monsanto and Europe: How science and reason almost lost out to hysteria and emotion
The glyphosate saga is a fascinating case study in how easily politics can derail science. In watching the glyphosate issue ...
GMO sugar beets help farmers reduce herbicide, water and fuel use, improve soil
You could say sugar-beet sugar runs through the blood of Luke Adams. “I grew up a sugar beet farmer,” Adams ...
‘Unmitigated disaster’: South Australian farmers enraged by government’s GMO crop ban
South Australia’s farmers are unlikely to have access to genetically modified (GM) crops until at least 2025 after a bill to extend ...
Kenya field trail shows promise of GMO insect-resistant Bt corn to combat fall armyworm African invasion
Scientists in [Kenya] have successfully tested genetically modified maize samples that are resistant to stem borer and are drought tolerant ...
How France, Italy and Belgium would profit if glyphosate is banned or restricted
If Paris and Rome carry through with their plans to ban glyphosate, a small group of French, Italian and Belgian ...
Higher prices and uncertain benefits: Are organic foods worth it?
Consumers have been paying a lot to eat organic; foods with the certification sometimes costs twice as much as conventional products. The premium prices may not be ...
Viewpoint: France shows its irrationality in embracing nuclear power but rejecting glyphosate safety
[Editor's note: Cécile Philippe is an economist and Director-General of the Molinari Economic Institute.] In France, a glyphosate ban for ...
Vote to approve glyphosate herbicide shakes up German, EU politics
European Union countries found themselves at odds on Monday [Nov. 27] over weed killer. After a long deadlock over renewing the ...
Viewpoint: Zen Honeycutt’s ‘inexcusable’ attack on orange growers betrays science
Activist group Moms Across America, run by someone with zero scientific training, makes a living attacking farmers and scientists that ...
GMO Bt cotton poised to revive Philippines’ industry, reduce pesticide use
Following a multi-year slump, the Philippine cotton industry is anticipating a renaissance through the help of an innovative, science-based crop that farmers ...
Swiss bee expert: Varroa mites—not neonicotinoid insecticides—primary threat to honeybees
[Jean-Daniel] Charrière oversees bee research at the Swiss government's agriculture institute, Agroscope. ... Currently, there is a big focus among scientists, activists ...
Indian scientist: For some crops, genetic engineering ‘only option’ to improve food security
[Editor's note: Rajeev Varshney is Research Program Director for Genetic Gains, at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ...
Viewpoint: Anti-biotech groups’ master plan substitutes ‘citizen science’ for data in quest to get glyphosate banned
The European Union resisted the lobbying of organic and anti-biotech groups to renew authorization of glyphosate, although only for five ...
French President Macron advocates glyphosate herbicide ban within 3 years
The European Union voted on Monday [Nov. 27] to extend its authorization for the world’s best-selling herbicide for an abbreviated ...
Non-glyphosate certified: New label promises lower levels of herbicide residue
Scott Prentice, executive director of BioChecked, has been in the food certification business since 2010. However, he's made the most ...
EU re-approval of glyphosate herbicide dodges farming economic woes—for now
If the European Union eventually phases out all the popular glyphosate herbicide, the loss of farm productivity could cost Europe ...
EU renews glyphosate herbicide license for 5 years, ending ‘heated debate’
EU countries approved on Monday [Nov. 27] the use of weed-killer glyphosate for the next five years after a heated ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO movement perpetuates sexism, food insecurity
An acronym that conjures specters like pesticides, cancer, obesity, the transformation of life forms into intellectual property, and corporate control ...
Viewpoint: GMO crops are future of African farming—if anti-biotech activists get out of the way
[I]nfluenced by European environmentalists, most African countries forbid the growing of genetically modified crops. This is a pity, because unless ...
Anti-biotechnology fake news: ‘Natural News’ claims RNAi used to ‘eliminate black people’
Anti-GMO campaigners are promoting a new conspiracy theory conflating the pioneering genetics technology of RNAi with anti-vaxxer myths and a ...
