Opinion: Revealing the toxic lobbying power of Bayer
By Hans van Scharen
Big fossil-fuel companies like Shell, Exxon, BP or Total are not your trusted source to go to for solid advice on how to urgently prevent the climate from changing ever faster.
farming
“Defend or be damned” – How a US company uses government funds to suppress pesticide opposition around the world
By Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre
In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and other health problems.
New study finds potentially harmful pathogens traveling high in the atmosphere
By Douglas Main
A wide variety of fungi and bacteria, including E. coli and other potential human pathogens, have been found high in the atmosphere where they can travel for hundreds to thousands of miles before falling back to Earth, according to new research.
EPA denies duty to regulate PFAS in sewage sludge spread on farmland
By Shannon Kelleher
US regulators claim they are not legally required to regulate toxic PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge spread on farmland across the country, according to a court filing the government made this week in response to a lawsuit from an environmental watchdog group.
California passes law ordering review of paraquat weed killer
By Carey Gillam
Efforts by some California lawmakers to ban the controversial weed killing chemical paraquat ended this week with passage of a law that keeps the chemical in use but requires a reevaluation by regulators within the next five years.
Peel those apples: New study confirms washing doesn’t remove pesticide residues
By Carey Gillam
A new scientific report lends weight to consumer concerns about pesticide residues on food, presenting fresh evidence that washing fruits before eating them does not remove various toxic chemicals commonly used in agriculture.
EPA issues rare “emergency” suspension of dangerous weed killer
By Benjamin Purper
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday said it was taking the rare step of issuing an “emergency suspension” of a chemical used to kill weeds on farms, golf courses and athletic fields, citing risks to unborn children.
Michigan notches a victory in effort to rein in polluting farm waste
By Keith Schneider
In a rare rebuke to the industrial farm sector, the Michigan Supreme Court this week ruled that state environmental regulators have full authority to require livestock and poultry operations to improve their handling of billions of pounds of manure that contributes to contamination of waterways.
Pesticide exposure as risky as smoking, study finds
By Shannon Kelleher
People who don’t farm, but live in US agricultural communities where pesticides are used on farms, face an increased cancer risk as significant as if they were smokers, according to a new study.
PFAS increasingly added to pesticides, study finds
By Shannon Kelleher
Despite widespread alarm about the health and environmental impacts of toxic PFAS, the chemicals are increasingly being added to pesticides applied in homes and crops across the US, according to a new study.