12
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 12, 2025) A ballot initiative to repeal a local ordinance in Maine that bans most uses of lawn chemicals was rejected by the voters last week by a 10-point margin. The voters of Falmouth, Maine, 55% to 45%, upheld an updated ordinance that was passed by the town council in February 2025 to protect the community’s health and the coastal environment from petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, sending a strong message that ecological land management in conformance with organic standards is the responsible path, given pesticide-related health threats, biodiversity decline, and the climate crisis. The ordinance being challenged by the ballot initiative updated a 2020 rule with more stringent criteria and restrictions and the goal of ensuring a holistic approach to land management. Maine has become the bellwether nationwide for communities seeking to eliminate the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers on public and private property, including parks, playing fields, open spaces, and yards. When applied, pesticides move off the target site through drift, volatilization, runoff, and leaching, creating community-wide poisoning and contamination. However, unlike Maine and five other states, most state laws preempt local jurisdictions from restricting pesticides. These states have . . .
Posted in Invasive Species, Maine, Nematodes, neonicotinoids, Preemption, Reflection, soil health, State/Local, Uncategorized, Water by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
11
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 11, 2025) A study published in Cardiovascular Toxicology (July 2025) finds significant associations between Gulf War deployment-related toxic chemical exposure hazards and various adverse health outcomes, including heightened risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVDs), such as “heart attack, coronary heart disease, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and peripheral vascular disease.†While there were no significant associations found directly between pesticide products and these adverse health effects, researchers attribute this to limited sample sizes and wide confidence intervals as part of the study methodology. Further research is necessary to build on this study, given the preponderance of scientific evidence linking pesticide exposure to heightened health risks to the cardiovascular system. On the issue of statistical significance, the authors state the following: “There may be difficulty [for survey respondents] remembering the[ir] military exposure history since the survey was completed nearly 25 years after the Gulf War.†While it is difficult to pinpoint pesticide exposure as a cause of illness among the toxic mixtures to which service members are exposed, there has been recognition by the Veterans Administration (VA) of diseases that are directly related to military service. Beyond Pesticides previously reported . . .
Posted in Blood Disorders, Cardiovascular Disease, Chemical Mixtures, Disease/Health Effects, Environmental Justice, Federal Agencies, Uncategorized, Veterans Administraton by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
10
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 10, 2025) With a small but growing organic beer market, Beyond Pesticides is urging breweries to align with ecological farming practices and to seek out organic sources for their ingredients. In a June 2025 release, the marketing research firm Data Bridge reports that, “The global organic beer market size was valued at USD 7.24 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 11.90 billion by 2032, at a CAGR [Compound Annual Growth Rate] of 6.4% during the forecast period.†The company attributes the growth to “health-conscious and environmentally-aware consumers†and finds “rising consumer preference for organic and clean-label beverages,†with consumers “actively seeking beer options made with organic hops, malt, and natural ingredients, free from synthetic pesticides or GMOs  [genetically modified organisms].†Harmful pesticides, including glyphosate, 2,4-D, and other toxic herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, are used in the production of the ingredients of beer. Residues may remain in barley, oats, wheat, and hops used to make beer. Not only do the residues pose a risk to beer drinkers, but growing these crops nonorganically threatens farmworkers, waterways, wildlife, and pollinators.  More than 800 million pounds of pesticides are used each year in U.S. agriculture, with devastating impacts on soil life, pollinators, and ecosystem health. Harm to the soil microbiome and invertebrates like worms and beetles is magnified by synergistic interactions with chemical . . .
Posted in 2,4-D, Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Glyphosate, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
07
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 7, 2025) There is little dispute that modern industrial culture has produced a constellation of related chronic conditions contributing powerfully to human disease. In recent decades, attention has begun to focus on the developmental origins of health and disease—prenatal exposures to pesticides, for example, that contribute to diseases in adulthood, such as cardiovascular and metabolic problems, along with the combination, known as cardiometabolic syndrome. Cardiometabolic disorders include obesity, hypertension, cholesterol imbalances, and insulin resistance. The usual suspects blamed for the syndrome are poor diet, physical inactivity, and genetic predisposition. These are all well-established risk factors, but they fail to fully account for the sharp rise in cardiometabolic syndrome globally. Obesity prevalence has doubled and diabetes quadrupled over the last 40 years, according to the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Risk Factor Collaboration. In a study on early life exposure to a pesticide mixture, researchers analyze sex differences in cardiometabolic outcomes from prenatal and early life. The study was conducted by an international team of scientists led by Ana M. Mora, M.D., of the Center for Environmental Research and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, using data from the Center for the . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Children, Glyphosate, Malathion, metabolic syndrome, Obesity, organophosphate, Permethrin, pyrethroids, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
06
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2025) The report, Designed to Kill: Who Profits from Paraquat, and accompanying interactive storymap, unpacks the supply chain of the infamous herbicide paraquat and underscores the true costs of pesticide products, from manufacturing to use in the fields. This report is part of a larger initiative, the Pesticide Mapping Project—“a collaborative research series that illustrates the health and climate harms of pesticides across their toxic lifecycle: including fossil fuel extraction, manufacturing, international trade, and application on vast areas of U.S. land.†Top Highlights This report highlights, among other notable points, “that every stage of the paraquat supply chain—which spans the globe—emits greenhouse gases and toxic air pollutants.†With SinoChem as the lead producer and player in the paraquat market, the Chinese government-owned pesticide company’s supply chain “includes fossil fuel extraction in Equatorial Guinea and Saudi Arabia, chemical manufacturing in India, Germany, and the United Kingdom, international chemical shipping, and final formulation and distribution in the United States.†Paraquat is not currently manufactured in the U.S., accounting for imports of “between 40 and 156 million pounds of paraquat each year, according to the last eight years of pesticide import records available . . .
Posted in Atlantic Methanol Production Company (AMPCO), Environmental Justice, Farmworkers, Nobian, Paraquat, Parkinson's, Pesticide Drift, Pesticide Regulation, Sahara International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem), Saudi Aramco, Syngenta, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
05
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 5, 2025) Environmental and public health advocates, farmers, and business leaders are raising a glass to the expansion of organic hop production, which aims to boost the viability and growth of organic-certified beer products in the UK. A 2024 report by UK-based Organic Research Centre, in partnership with farmers, follows three years of field trials to assess the suitability of various hop varieties in organically managed systems. At a time when organic hops production in the UK has dropped significantly due to varieties that are vulnerable to downy mildew and hop powdery mildew, the report offers a blueprint for additional on-farm, applied research in the United States, including from groups such as the Organic Farming Research Foundation’s (OFRF) Farmer-Led Trials Program. The report cites promising results for new hop varieties. The continuous use of pesticides not only contributes to biodiversity collapse, public health deterioration, and the climate crisis, but also to the ability to enjoy a beer without fear of exposure to toxic chemicals, including evidence of glyphosate residues found in popular beer and wine brands. (See Daily News here and here.) Background and Methodology The authors of this report . . .
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Chemicals, Glyphosate, soil health, State/Local, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
04
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 4, 2025) A study of earthworms published in Environmental Science & Technology highlights how chemical mixtures can have both synergistic and species-specific effects, threatening the soil microbiome and overall soil health. In exposing two species, Eisenia fetida and Metaphire guillelmi, to the weed killer glyphosate alone and in combination with urea, a form of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, the researchers find enhanced toxicity with co-exposure as well as varying health effects between the two species. These results emphasize the need to test a wide variety of nontarget organisms for impacts from environmental contaminants, since species, even within the same genus or family, can exhibit vastly different effects. Glyphosate, as one of the most widely used herbicides worldwide, is highly researched, with a multitude of studies linking the weed killer to effects on humans, wildlife, and soil ecosystems. Since simultaneous application of glyphosate and urea frequently occurs in agriculture, the effects of this mixture on earthworms are crucial for understanding the overall impacts on soil health. In exposing the two species to the individual compounds and as a mixture, the authors report increased glyphosate residues in earthworm gut contents, reduced body weight, aggravated intestinal . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Beneficials, Biodiversity, Chemical Mixtures, Ecosystem Services, Fertilizer, Glyphosate, Gut Dysbiosis, Herbicides, Microbiome, soil health, Soil microbiome, synergistic effects, Synthetic Fertilizer by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
03
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 3, 2025) After a series of legal setbacks for the nation’s cornerstone law of environmental protection, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Beyond Pesticides has joined a call for members of the U.S. Congress to oppose weakening amendments to the statute—H.R. 4776, the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Environmental advocates say the bill, introduced by U.S. Representatives Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Jared Golden (D-ME) in July 2025, is a fossil fuel and agriculture industry wish list that will weaken NEPA protections. In recognition of “the profound impact of man’s activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment,â€Â NEPA’s statement of purpose “declare[s] a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment.â€Â By requiring environmental assessments (EAs) or environmental impact statements (EISs) for federal actions, it creates a procedural barrier to environmentally damaging proposals.  The requirements of NEPA go beyond the production of reports. In the process of producing EAs and EISs, NEPA requires the agency to define the purpose and need for the project and examine all reasonable alternatives. This alternatives assessment is a model for environmental policy that should be adopted by agencies regardless of whether it is considering . . .
Posted in Council on Environmental Quality, National Environmental Policy Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
31
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 31, 2025) A review in Lancet Neurology provides a clear snapshot of the state of scientific understanding of Parkinson’s disease and how medicine and policy could be improved by shifting focus to the primary causes of the disease, namely environmental toxicants, and to emphasize prevention rather than devoting resources only to treatments and a cure. The study, led by Ray Dorsey, M.D. of the Atria Research and Global Health Institute and the University of Rochester Medical Center, focuses on three classes of environmental toxicants: pesticides, dry cleaning and degreasing chemicals, and air pollution. Because these are pollutants introduced by humans, the authors say, they should be controllable, and “Parkinson’s disease could be thus largely preventable.†According to the review, in the last five years, new evidence has accumulated about three types of pesticides of particular concern. They are not all insecticides, which is the pesticide category most associated with neurological damage. Paraquat is a herbicide used on corn, soybeans, and cotton. Rotenone is used to kill rats and insects. Organochlorine insecticides comprise the third class. The review notes that there are many other pesticides that are neurotoxic and may have common . . .
Posted in DDT, Dieldrin, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nervous System Effects, Paraquat, Parkinson's, Rotenone, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
30
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 29, 2025) A study published in Environment International evaluates residues of individual and mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), including pesticides, and finds an association between exposure and hyperactive behavior in children. The researchers evaluated urine samples from over 800 preschoolers, identifying and statistically analyzing concentrations of 22 EDCs, and finding that nine of these chemicals are significantly associated with hyperactivity trajectories and EDC mixtures are positively associated with hyperactive behavior, noting the strongest association in girls. “The current study indicates the adverse health effects of exposure to mixtures of EDCs among preschoolers, and suggests gender specificity in these effects,†the researchers state. They continue, “This highlights the importance of focusing on multi-pollutant exposure in early childhood.â€Â Study Importance “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children, which has become one of the main factors leading to the burden of disease in children and adolescents worldwide.†The authors continue: “Its core symptoms are high levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity during the preschool period. A meta-analysis showed that the overall prevalence of ADHD in children in China over the past 15 years was as high as 6.2%, and has been increasing over . . .
Posted in ADHD, Biomonitoring, Body Burden, Chemical Mixtures, Children, Children/Schools, Endocrine Disruption, Pesticide Mixtures, PFAS by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
29
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 29, 2025) The latest research on bats and beavers, ecosystem services, and biodiversity adds to a wide body of science on the importance of a balanced ecosystem. In both the Bulletin of the National Research Centre and Journal of Animal Ecology, the researchers highlight the interconnectedness not only between wildlife species but to broader ecosystem functioning and human health implications. Researchers in the Journal article add to the growing body of science connecting an abundance of bat species in areas with established beaver dams, highlighting how interconnected wildlife is. The reporting on this recent research coincides with Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature, scheduled for today, October 29. As the author of the article in the Bulletin of the National Research Centre, entitled “The complex web between environmental disruption, pesticide use, and human health: lessons from the bat crisis,†states: “The close relationship between environmental balance, biodiversity, and human health has long been a concern of science and public policy. Disruptions in ecosystems often trigger cascading effects that extend far beyond the original ecological imbalance, affecting agricultural practices, food . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Announcements, Bats, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Events, International, Pollinators, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
28
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 28, 2025) A California-based population study published in BMC Public Health finds that “7.5 [percent] of all pregnant people in California who gave birth in 2021 lived within 1 km [kilometer] of agricultural fields where OP pesticides [organophosphates] had been used during their pregnancy. . .†Despite a 54 percent decrease in overall use of the neurotoxic insecticide chlorpyrifos in the state between 2016 and 2021, after a statewide ban on the organophosphate insecticide in 2016, researchers found that in one California county, “more than 50 [percent] of pregnant people lived within 1 km of OP pesticide use.†Significant disparities were found in terms of elevated exposure to pesticides, “with Hispanic/Latine, young people, and residents of the predominantly fruit and vegetable growing Central Coast region being most likely to live near OP pesticide applications during pregnancy.†The authors suggest that “regulatory changes to limit use or restrict applications in close proximity to residential areas could have a substantial public health benefit on children’s brain development.†These findings add to the existing scientific literature on perinatal and maternal pesticide exposure associated with adverse long-term health effects for children and mothers. . . .
Posted in Acephate, Bensulide, Chlorpyrifos, contamination, Diazinon, Dichlorvos, Dimethoate, Ethoprop, Farmworkers, Fenthion, Malathion, Methidathion, Mevinphos, Naled, Parathion, Pesticide Drift, Phorate, Phosmet, Tetrachlorvinphos (TCVP), Trichlorfon, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
27
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 27, 2025) With the confluence of science and law, the spotlight is on sewage sludge fertilizer and its contaminants, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Sewage sludge (biosolids) is a byproduct of sewage treatment and is used as a source of organic matter for amending soil in nonorganic agriculture and landscaping. In light of a recent settlement in a lawsuit filed by Beyond Pesticides against ScottsMiracle-Gro, ongoing litigation against GreenTechnologies, LLC, and a major study identifying 414 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), Beyond Pesticides’ network is calling on Governors and local officials to ban the use of biosolids on farms and parks, until there is adequate testing of toxic residues—which does not currently exist.  The lawsuits against producers of sewage sludge fertilizer cite test results showing PFAS residues in the companies’ products and numerous scientific studies on the adverse effects of PFAS to public health, wildlife, and pollinators. (See settlement statement recently reached with ScottsMiracle-Gro.) A literature review published in Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry identifies CECs in soils, untreated and treated sewage sludge (biosolids), and dust, across 151 peer-reviewed studies released between 2018 and 2023—emphasizing the range of potential exposure pathways across various products, including classes of . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Biosolids/Sewage Sludge, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Parks, PFAS, Take Action, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
2 Comments
24
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 24, 2025) A literature review published in Science of the Total Environment reports numerous peer-reviewed studies associating prenatal and childhood pesticide exposure to measurable alterations to children’s immune systems, including indicators of immunosuppression and increases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, among other adverse health effects. These immune system alterations are linked to higher infection risk and potentially contribute to autoimmune diseases and allergies later in life. For over four decades, Beyond Pesticides has tracked the peer-reviewed science and identified a preponderance of evidence linking pesticide and chemical-dependent pest management to adverse human and ecological health effects. In this spirit, public health and environmental advocates continue to call for a wholesale transition to organic land management and organic pest management as biodiversity, public health, and climate crises continue to mount. This mission supports the growth of the Parks for a Sustainable Future Program, where nineteen cities in eleven states across the country engage in pilot projects to transition parks, playing fields, and schoolyards to organic management practices and protect the health of children. Background and Methodology “This study aimed to evaluate the extent of immunotoxicity and correlation between exposure to pesticides and immune system . . .
Posted in carbamate, Carbamates, Children, Children/Schools, Disease/Health Effects, Immunotoxicity, organochlorines, organophosphate, pyrethroids, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
23
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 23, 2025) A global literature review of pesticide residues in marine seaweed, published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, highlights the widespread presence of pesticides in bioindicator species. As vital coastal primary producers, seaweed acts as a key indicator for regional pesticide contamination patterns. The bioaccumulation within seaweed species also threatens consumers, including humans, as the chemicals can biomagnify as they move through the food web. Pesticide contamination in waterways allows residues to bioaccumulate in seaweed species, presenting risks to public health, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning. In addition to the support seaweeds provide for ecosystems, they provide food sources for a multitude of organisms and are of growing socioeconomic importance. “This systematic review identifies, critically evaluates, and synthesizes recent global literature (2015–2024) on pesticide residues detected in seaweeds to delineate contamination patterns,†the authors share. The findings highlight the harmful impacts of petrochemical pesticides on multiple species. Many aquatic species rely on seaweed as a food source, including fish, sea urchins, crabs, snails, brittle stars, and marine mammals such as manatees and sea turtles. Even bacteria and filter feeders consume seaweed when it is decomposed. Birds and land mammals also consume seaweed, . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Aldrin, Aquatic Organisms, Bifenthrin, Biodiversity, Chlordane, contamination, cypermethrin, DDT, Ecosystem Services, Endosulfan, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), Oceans, organochlorines, pyrethroids, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Uncategorized, Water, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
22
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 22, 2025) The release of scientific studies on contaminants in sewage sludge (biosolids) used as fertilizers coincides with two lawsuits filed by Beyond Pesticides against ScottsMiracle-Gro and GreenTechnologies, LLC, in which the organization alleged that each defendant engaged in false and deceptive marketing and sale of fertilizer products that were marketed as environmentally friendly, despite containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”). PFAS have been linked to cancer and other adverse effects. (See settlement statement recently reached with ScottsMiracle-Gro.) Biosolids are widely used in agricultural production and nonagricultural land management, including parks and playing fields, but  prohibited from use in certified organic agriculture under the Organic Foods Production Act. Two recent studies raise serious concerns about a range of contaminants in treated sewage sludge. While widely advanced as supplementing organic matter with macro- and micro-nutrients, treated sludge “harbor[s] a concentrated presence of contaminants that have adsorbed onto the soil post-wastewater treatment,†according to a literature review published in Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry. The researchers identify 414 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in soils, untreated and treated sewage sludge (biosolids), and dust, across 151 peer-reviewed studies released between 2018 and 2023—emphasizing the range of . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Biosolids, Litigation, Sewage Sludge, Synthetic Turf, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
1 Comment
21
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 21, 2025) A study, published in International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, calculates cumulative dietary pesticide exposure and finds a significant positive association between pesticide residues in food and urine when analyzing over 40 produce types. The research uses data for 1,837 individuals from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and compares them to biomonitoring samples of the participants. According to the researchers, “Here we show that consumption of fruits and vegetables, weighted by pesticide load, is associated with increasing levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers.†They continue, “When excluding potatoes, consumption of fruits and vegetables weighted by pesticide contamination was associated with higher levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers for organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid insecticides.†The NHANES data is derived from a national biomonitoring survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which collects information about consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as urine samples. Background As the study authors explain: “Hundreds of millions of pounds of synthetic pesticide active ingredients are used every year in the United States, and pesticide exposure can occur through food, drinking water, residential proximity to agricultural spraying, household . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Azoxystrobin, Biomonitoring, Body Burden, boscalid, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), fludioxonil, Imidacloprid, neonicotinoids, organophosphate, Pesticide Mixtures, Pesticide Regulation, Pesticide Residues, pyraclostrobin, pyrethroids, synergistic effects, Synthetic Pyrethroid, thiabendazole by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
20
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 20, 2025) With the release of a study that links the use of nitrogen fertilizer in combination with antibiotic pesticides to escalating bacterial resistance, public health advocates are renewing their call for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Congress to eliminate antibiotic pesticide use in land management. This action comes on the heels of a World Health Organization (WHO) study finding that antibiotic resistance is evolving even faster than previously thought. WHO finds, “One in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections causing common infections in people worldwide in 2023 were resistant to antibiotic treatments. . .. Between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance rose in over 40% of the pathogen-antibiotic combinations monitored, with an average annual increase of 5–15%.â€Â These findings, linking pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers to antibiotic resistance, again raise serious concerns about the deadly impacts of conventional (chemical-intensive) agricultural practices on human health. The researchers found that nitrogen is a strong driver of resistance processes. The richness and diversity of phages—viruses that attack bacteria and can transmit antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)—is highest in the groups exposed to both nitrogen and combined pesticides, and the abundance of ARGs in phages becomes “markedly elevated†in . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Antibacterial, Antibiotic Resistance, Antimicrobial, oxytetracycline, streptomycin, Take Action, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
1 Comment
17
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 17, 2025) Earlier this week, on October 13, the fossil fuel industry, commodity crop groups, and their political allies celebrated Global Fertilizer Day. The industry is celebrating the widespread (and growing) use of petroleum products, including synthetic, nitrogen-based and fossil-fuel derived fertilizers. As a response to industry claims that petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers are critical to ensuring global food security, Beyond Pesticides and a broad coalition spanning civil society, scientists, farmers, farmworkers and working people are pushing back against toxic chemical dependency and advancing organic land (agricultural and nonagricultural) management as cost-effective, productive, and protective of health and the environment.  A review last year in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) highlights the urgent need to address the widespread chemical pollution stemming from the petrochemical industry, underscoring the dire implications for public health. Tracey Woodruff, PhD, author and professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), emphatically states, “We need to recognize the very real harm that petrochemicals are having on people’s health. Many of these fossil-fuel-based chemicals are endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with hormonal systems, and they are part of the disturbing rise in disease.â€Â (Watch Dr. Woodruff’s talk . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Fertilizer, Synthetic Fertilizer, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
16
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2025) An important new study links pesticides, antibiotics, and nitrogen fertilizers to the extreme global crisis of antibiotic resistance, raising serious concerns about the adverse impacts of conventional (chemical-intensive) agricultural practices. The research team, from several Chinese universities and laboratories and Queen’s University in Belfast, conducted a three-year study in China using soil bacteria and phages (bacteriophages, or viruses that invade bacteria) from an experimental field, exposing them to a variety of conditions ranging from the control (no exposures) to various combinations of nitrogen fertilizer and two categories of pesticides (the insecticide chlorpyrifos and a blend of the fungicides azoxystrobin and propiconazole). Phages are viruses that eat bacteria. They invade the bacterial cell and, in various ways, cause the death of the bacterium. Some viral genes cause the cells to lyse, or dissolve, releasing their genetic material into the surrounding environment, where other organisms can pick up new genes. In this way, phages are a major pipeline for horizontal gene transfer (movement of genes in bacteria from one bacterial species to another) among microbes. This phenomenon is of increasing concern because the genes circulating in this marketplace include many that enhance . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic, Antibiotic Resistance, Synthetic Fertilizer, Uncategorized by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
15
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 15, 2025) The latest Scientific Investigations Report for 2025 from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), entitled “National Water Quality Program: Multidecadal Change in Pesticide Concentrations Relative to Human Health Benchmarks in the Nation’s Groundwater,†finds moderate concentrations of five pesticides, with the highest percentages in agricultural wells, and concentrations of the carcinogenic soil fumigant DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane), which also causes infertility, that are greater than the maximum containment level, despite being banned over 45 years ago. These results highlight the persistence of pesticides used in agriculture and the elevated risks of pesticide contamination in agricultural areas. This report monitors concentrations of pesticides in well networks across the U.S. in decadal intervals, with this last one incorporating data ranging from 1993-2023. Additionally, DBCP in one well network in the San Joaquin-Tulare River Basin in California continues to be assessed due to previous levels exceeding the human health benchmark (HHB) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The limitations of the study are disclosed in the text of the report. As the authors state: “Only pesticides with an HHB were included in the multidecadal pesticide change analysis… The total number of . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Alachlor, Atrazine, California, contamination, DBCP, deethylatrazine, Drinking Water, Groundwater, Pesticide Mixtures, Prometon, simazine, synergistic effects, U.S. Geological Survey, Water by: Beyond Pesticides
1 Comment
14
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 14, 2025) With escalating environmental, health, climate crises tied to petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, Beyond Pesticides is calling the transition to organic land management a mandate, not a choice. Additionally, as a solution, organic agriculture has returned competitive yields with chemical-intensive farming and higher profitability. In this context, Beyond Pesticides and its network are supporting the Organic Science and Research Investment (OSRI) Act, S.1385 and H.R. 5703, to help grow the organic sector and are asking members of Congress to cosponsor the legislation. If passed, OSRI will make strategic investments into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic agriculture research, assisting farmers to meet the growing demand for organic products and keep organic dollars circulating in rural and regional economies. The House and Senate bills include the same legislative language. As the health, biodiversity, and climate crises escalate, Beyond Pesticides views organic agriculture and nonagricultural land management as a social good, necessary to a sustainable future. Given the dismantling of many federal environmental programs and the weakening or undermining of pesticide regulation, the transition to the organic alternative has taken on increased importance, according to public health and environmental advocates. The true cost of conventional, petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer . . .
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Take Action, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) by: Beyond Pesticides
No Comments
