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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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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: 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 ...
Mexico revokes Monsanto permit to develop GMO soybean seeds in 7 states
Agriculture sanitation authority Senasica has revoked a permit held by Monsanto to commercialize genetically modified soy in seven Mexican states ...
Argentina authorizes new herbicide-resistant GMO soybean seeds
Argentina authorized on Friday [Nov. 24] the use of genetically modified soybean seeds resistant to herbicides other than glyphosate, as ...
French scientist calls for inquiry into IARC’s ‘misbehavior’ on glyphosate cancer study
Following revelations that IARC withheld data showing the herbicide glyphosate does not cause cancer, French molecular geneticist Marcel Kuntz calls ...
France to vote against 5-year EU renewal of glyphosate herbicide
France will vote against a five-year extension of the license for weed-killer glyphosate that the European Commission will propose on ...
Bee friendly insecticides? Scientists unlock genetic key to kill crop pests, sparing beneficial insects
Researchers at Michigan State University’s entomology department have unlocked a key to maintain the insecticide’s effectiveness in eliminating pests without ...
Promising GMO and gene-edited wheat varieties hindered by costly regulations, consumer concerns
“Everything that my lab has produced is down in the basement.” That is how Peggy G. Lemaux, Ph.D., described the ...
Myth busting: Are natural pesticides really safer than synthetic ones?
Both organic and conventional farmers use pesticides, but these chemicals are rampant in nature and many natural ones are more ...
Viewpoint: FDA should crack down on food safety misinformation
[Editor's note: Val Giddings is a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. The following is part of a letter ...
EU reauthorizes glyphosate herbicide-resistant GMO sugar beets for import, but not cultivation
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientists have cleared a genetically modified sugar beet developed by Monsanto and KWS for reauthorisation ...
GMO supporters and critics weigh in on FDA’s biotech education initiative
[Editor's note: Karl Haro von Mogel is a geneticist with a PhD in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics from UW-Madison with ...
Glyphosate, other herbicides may contribute to antibiotic resistance, study finds
New Zealand researchers have found the active ingredients in commonly-used weed killers can cause bacteria to be less susceptible to ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide has ‘no adverse effects’ on honeybee colony health, meta-analysis finds
A quantitative weight of evidence (QWoE) methodology was used to assess higher-tier studies on the effects of imidacloprid (IMI) on ...
USDA expects quick approval for genetically engineered virus to combat citrus greening disease in Florida
The Agriculture Department is expected to allow Florida citrus growers to start using a genetically engineered virus to protect trees ...
Ecuador activist group plans nationwide strike to protest country’s loosening of GMO restrictions
Burning soy seeds lit up the city streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, last May as dozens of farmers, activists and indigenous ...
Would switching to 100% organic farming help the environment? ‘Absolutely not’
Should the world’s farms go 100 percent organic to protect the environment? Absolutely not. One huge problem is that organic ...
Designer fruit is the future: Genetic engineering adds ‘tangible benefits’ for consumers
Consumers have shown a great deal of resistance to GMO food over the years, but the Golden Arctic apple, which ...
Talking Biotech: Soil-worm resistant GMO crops in Africa hindered by politics, public fears
IITA scientists: GMOs could help fend off nematode crop pests in Africa, but educating policymakers and public about the benefits ...
