(Beyond Pesticides, January 15, 2025) There is robust scientific literature that unpacks the adverse human health effects of pesticide exposure, however immunological impacts do not receive adequate attention in regulatory review processes, according to an in-depth literature review. In a piece published in Frontiers in Immunology (2024) critiquing recent peer-reviewed scientific studies, as well as unpublished research produced by the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine in partnership with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina, researchers assess immune system effects of pesticide exposure, which creates the conditions for deadly health conditions including various forms of cancer. The focus of this study, according to the authors, is “to critically review fundamental aspects of toxicological studies conducted on PPPs [Plant Protection Products] to provide a clearer understanding of the risks associated with exposure to these compounds on human health.” PPPs are pesticide products that contain more than one active ingredient, and can include synergistic ingredients that supercharge them alongside inert ingredients that pesticide companies are not legally required to disclose under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), but are often manipulated biologically and chemically active. Most studies analyze the toxicological impacts of active ingredients in isolation rather […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2024) On the brink of the second Trump administration, a legal victory just last month overturned a rule issued under the first Trump administration to “practically eliminate oversight of novel GE technology and instead let industry self-regulate,” as characterized by the Center for Food Safety (CFS). CFS served as counsel in the case for the plaintiffs, led by the National Family Farm Coalition. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decision, responding to the lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of farm and environmental groups, remanded the case back to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with instructions to follow. “This is a critical victory on behalf of farmers, the planet, and scientific integrity,” says George Kimbrell, legal director at the Center for Food Safety, also a plaintiff in the case. Mr. Kimbrell continued, “USDA tried to hand over its job to Monsanto and the pesticide industry and the Court held that capitulation contrary to both law and science.” It remains to be seen whether the incoming Trump administration will appeal this court decision. Unpacking The Center for Food Safety Litigation This legal battle began in 2004 with the Animal and Plant Health […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2024) As The New York Times reported last month, the government in South Africa declared a national emergency—23 children died and nearly 900 people were sickened from pesticide poisoning in Johannesburg’s Soweto township. The illnesses and fatalities have been traced to small amounts of highly neurotoxic pesticides, including the insecticides terbufos and aldicarb, found in local food items. These chemicals, described by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as “street pesticides,” are being increasingly used (legally and illegally) for pest infestations in the townships and informal settlements of South Africa’s poorest communities, where poverty and inadequate waste collection exacerbates the pest management challenges. Without formal electricity, running water, or municipal garbage collection, many residents rely on highly toxic pesticides for pest infestations in their homes and makeshift markets, resulting in food inadvertently being contaminated with pesticides.  The announcement highlights the dangers of allowing these highly toxic agricultural chemicals to be used in farming, with tragic consequences for vulnerable communities when they are diverted for use in urban settings. This tragic situation also draws attention to the elevated threat that pesticides pose when stringent enforcement mechanisms are not in place to ensure compliance with pesticide restrictions, even with […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 18, 2024) A bombshell investigation conducted by Canada’s National Observer finds that Bayer, which acquired the Monsanto chemical company in 2018, colluded with environmental and public health regulators in Canada to obstruct a proposed neonicotinoid insecticide ban originally introduced in 2018. Advocates were stunned back in 2021 when Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)—the Canadian counterpart to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—reversed its decision to phase out imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam by 2023. The weaponization of scientific institutions and regulatory processes is commonplace in the U.S. context, with U.S. Right to Know publishing a report earlier this year on the corrupting impact of pesticide manufacturers at the Entomological Society of America 2023 annual meeting. (See Daily News here.) There are numerous Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports signaling EPA corruption and failures, including persisting industry influence in the cancer risk assessment process, inadequate leadership in addressing community harms of a former creosote-treated wood preservative plant turned Superfund site in Pensacola, Florida, and failure to protect the public from endocrine-disrupting chemicals, to name several examples. In a recent press release, the David Suzuki Foundation, alongside numerous medical, legal, and civil society organizations, is calling on Health Canada […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 13, 2024) In October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the registration applications of BASF Corporation and Mitsui Chemicals Crop & Life Solutions, Inc. for the use of different formulations of the L-isomer of glufosinate (also known as “L-glufosinate” and “glufosinate-P”) as new active herbicidal ingredients. This decision marks one of the first times that EPA has employed its new Herbicide  Strategy Framework to determine the level of mitigation necessary to protect listed species and critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Glufosinate is an organophosphate, with known neurotoxic, reproductive/developmental effects, toxic to aquatic life, and mobile in soils (see Beyond Pesticides Gateway). Scientists have found that formulated glufosinate is generally more toxic to aquatic and terrestrial animals than the technical grade active ingredient. Manufacturers are introducing newer glufosinate products as alternatives for glyphosate-based herbicides, like Bayer/Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’ and dicamba. The Center for Biological Diversity notes in comments submitted to EPA on this decision, “L-glufosinate has the potential to be used on tens of millions acres of land every year given the crops EPA has proposed to register it on. The scale of potential use is far above most new active ingredients.” This first significant application […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 9, 2024) In recognition of the explosion of a chemical plant in Bhopal, India 40 years ago that was responsible for the death of 20,000 people, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal introduced H.Res. 1604, “Recognizing the 40th year since the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster and helping to ensure that no other community suffers another chemical disaster, by supporting the designation of December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day” and calling for support of survivors of the disaster and promoting public understanding of the dangers of chemical disasters. The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) plant explosion released a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the middle of the night, killing thousands of people immediately—estimates range from 1,754 to 10,000—and up to 20,000 subsequently. Estimates of the number suffering permanent disabilities or chronic disease range up to 95% of the affected population of 531,881. MIC is a precursor used in the manufacture of carbamate insecticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl. In spite of this history and the many adverse effects of these extremely toxic pesticides and their precursors, EPA continues to register pesticides without considering cradle-to-grave risks.  >> Tell EPA that harm done in the manufacture, transportation, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 22, 2024) With numerous campaigns at the state and federal level to ban the weed killer paraquat and nearly 6,000 individual lawsuits alleging exposure to it causes Parkinson’s disease (PD), U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and six Senators on October 31 called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the chemical. Citing that “[f]armworkers and rural residents are disproportionately exposed to paraquat,” the Senators’ letter to EPA stating that, “Paraquat has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, thyroid cancer, and other health harms such as kidney, liver, and respiratory damage, and reproductive harm, including neurodevelopmental impact on developing fetuses [and] [i]n rural areas, exposure to paraquat and other pesticides during pregnancy can increase the risk of leukemia.” Most of the 6,000 cases against paraquat’s manufacturer, Syngenta, have been consolidated into Multi-District Litigation (MDL) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. In April, the MDL judge ousted the plaintiffs’ expert witness regarding causality, which resulted in the first five cases ready for trial being tossed out. The defendant sells paraquat globally and is doing everything it can, according to investigative news reports, to discredit any link between paraquat and Parkinson’s, including the use […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 21, 2024) Be it Patagonia Provisions or Brooklyn Brewery, there is a buzz around organic beer that is increasingly evident given interest by brewing and food companies. The expansion of the organic beer market in the United States would not have been possible without the leadership of advocates, farmers, breweries, and the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), which led to the strengthening of organic standards for beer back in 2010. The growth of this sector and transition to truly organic beer speaks to the spirit of “continuous improvement,” the original design of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), and the importance of mobilizing the public to engage in the public input process that continues to keep organic law strong in opposition to those seeking an easier path to the organic label. Continuous Improvement and Organic Hops In the original drafting of OFPA, advocates came together to determine how to encourage the development of certified organic sectors despite the lack of available, verifiable organic inputs for many products—beer included. With this spirit in mind, the improvement of standards for beer encapsulates the significance of OFPA in the context of its flexibility, incentives, and the statutory intent to encourage […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 14, 2024) The destructive impact of Hurricane Milton, a climate-change-fueled extreme weather event that smashed into Florida in early October, led to the temporary closure of all phosphate mining facilities, integral to petrochemical fertilizer production, in the state after reported wastewater spillage, according to reporting by Tampa Bay Times. The Mosaic Company, the largest phosphate mining company in Florida, reported at least 17,500 gallons of wastewater from one of their processing plants leaked into Tampa Bay (“The Bay”), according to a company press release. It is unclear to local communities if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will permit the company’s request earlier this year to test 1,200 tons of phosphogypsum, an industrial byproduct of phosphate rock mining, as a potential material in roadways. Local advocates find this alarming given a reported tear in a gypsum stack operated by Mosaic in one of its plants in New Wales. The wastewater was used as a storage medium for phosphogypsum, which when dissolved contains cancer-causing radon, according to reporting by Reuters. Besides phosphate waste leakage, over 30 waterways across Tampa Bay were polluted after back-to-back hurricanes (Tropical Storm Debby in August, Hurricane Helene in September, and Hurricane Milton in […]

Beyond Pesticides (October 17, 2024) On September 30, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened a public comment period about production of specific per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’)—including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA). EPA is collecting information on the fluorination process of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and other plastic containers to inform possible regulatory action under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The deadline for submitting comments is November 29, 2024. PFOA and twelve other PFAS compounds are created during the fluorination of HDPE plastic containers by Inhance Technologies, LLC, the only U.S. company manufacturing containers using this fluorination technique (see here). Studies by EPA, independent researchers, and the company itself demonstrate that PFAS leaches from container walls into contents, exposing millions to these toxic chemicals without their knowledge. EPA notes, “Long-chain PFAS like PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA build up in our bodies and the environment over time. Even small amounts can significantly contribute to people’s long-term exposure and health risk for cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children.” The adverse effects of PFAS exposure are linked to serious health issues, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 9, 2024) An agrichemical industry-funded study published in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability dissects the development of national organic standards and opportunities that can be applied in expanding the use of “regenerative” agriculture. Not surprisingly, the study authors offer support for integrated pest management (IPM) and reassurance of a rigorous pesticide registration review process before the chemicals are marketed. The study included a survey of five farmers, who farm a total of 100,000 acres, but do not have extensive experience farming organically. For those practicing regenerative organic practices and organic advocates, the bottom line is that the study concludes that a list of criteria that would be needed for regenerative agriculture criteria (e.g., list of allowed substances) already exists within the standards and requirements of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) and the National Organic Program. Environmental and public health advocates are concerned about this piece representing an industry position being cloaked in an academic journal serving as an obstacle to the widespread adoption and improvement of organic principles and practices. The study was written by four authors with varying levels of connections to CropLife America (the major agrichemical industry trade group), including academic researchers with […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2024) A recent article in Flatwater Free Press identifies a growing trend of companies, communities, and farms nationwide advancing organic agriculture and land management. Among the signs of this change is Belltown Farms, a Philadelphia, PA owner and operator of organic and organic-transitioning farms, that, according to Flatwater, is “the second-largest buyer of Nebraska’s increasingly expensive farmland by money spent between 2018 and 2022” with plans to expand to 50,000+ acres in various states across the country. Similarly, the continued success of the Nebraska-based, on-farm processing operation, Grain Place Foods, and its collaboration with farmers focused on small-scale organic production, represents the diversity of economic and organizational models that can exist in local, regional, national, and even international food systems. This National Organic Month, organic advocates, consumers, and farmers continue to call on federal policymakers to expand opportunities for the proliferation of small-scale farming operations. In advancing growth of organic and integrity of the organic food label, organic advocates are seeking to ensure equity and access to land as integral to any growth. In this context, Beyond Pesticides had identified the promise of organic in fighting existential health, biodiversity, and climate crises and ongoing threats to the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2024) In a semiannual report released in August 2024, EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) identifies a number of “unresolved” issues that strike the core of the agency’s failure to carry out its responsibilities to protect health and the environment. One of the issues identified is EPA’s failure to conduct an adequate and independent assessment of the cancer effects of the fumigant, 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D or Telone). OIG’s original report, The EPA Needs to Improve the Transparency of Its Cancer-Assessment Process for Pesticides, was issued in 2022 and concluded that EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) engages in secret meetings with industry, elevates unqualified individuals to decision-making roles, uses an untested scientific approach, fails to conduct a simple literature review, and neglects public transparency. Other pesticide issues that OIG identified in its report include: The EPA Needs to Determine Whether Seresto Pet Collars Pose an Unreasonable Risk to Pet Health The EPA Has Not Verified that Its Laboratories Comply with Hazardous Waste Requirements EPA Needs an Agencywide Strategic Action Plan to Address Harmful Algal Blooms EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Has Made Limited Progress in Assessing Pesticides EPA Needs to Evaluate the Impact of the Revised Agricultural Worker […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 19, 2024) An article published in the journal Science of the Total Environment finds that the European Union’s (EU) risk assessment process, required for registration, fails to accurately or reliably predict pesticide exposure rates, sometimes by several orders of magnitude. Pesticide registration in the EU leverages the Agricultural Operator Exposure Model (AOEM)—a predictive model developed in 2014 to estimate expected non-dietary pesticide exposure levels for operators [pest control operators in the U.S.] based on a very limited set of data generated by the pesticide industry. Models that predict real-world exposure and underestimate field data raise critical questions about the efficacy of risk assessment reviews that determine product labels and allowed level of harm. By comparing the dermal exposure measured during a field study conducted in a nonagricultural area with the corresponding values estimated by AOEM, researchers in France add to the body of scientific literature indicating that the fossil fuel and petrochemical pesticide industry data cannot be relied upon as a benchmark to ensure public health and safety. The study describes the difficulty and complexity of calculating the ability of protective equipment to provide protection. According to the authors, “[AOEM] underestimated hand exposure by 42 times and […]

Image: Art Page submission from Max Sano, “Maryland Farmland“ (Beyond Pesticides, August 27, 2024) A recent entry in the Civil Eats investigative series, “Chemical Capture: The Power and Impact of the Pesticide Industry,” unpacks the troubling coordination between carbon markets, toxic pesticide products, and industrial agriculture to mutually reframe their business models under the guise of climate-smart agriculture. In recent years, powerful agribusiness corporations—including Corteva (chlorpyrifos) and Bayer/Monsanto (glyphosate)—have made significant progress in becoming leading providers of carbon markets based in the United States. Advocates, farmers, and communities view the misrepresentation of carbon offsets and trading as a climate solution in a strategy that undermines proven alternative systems of agriculture and land management (aka organic). The underlying concept of carbon markets began with the emissions trading program as a result of the Kyoto Protocol back in the 1990s. “Emissions trading, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol, allows countries that have emission units to spare—emissions permitted them but not “used”—to sell this excess capacity to countries that are over their targets,” according to the United Nations. Based on Civil Eats’ reporting, Bayer/Monsanto with Climate FieldView and Corteva with its Carbon Solutions program, cite their pesticide products as […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 26, 2024) In July, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was raising the allowable levels of the highly toxic weed killer atrazine in the nation’s waterways from the 2016 level of 3.4 to 9.7 micrograms per liter (µg/L), which scientists and environmental advocates say is a serious threat to aquatic plants, fish, invertebrates, and amphibians, in addition to people who recreate in waterways or eat food from them. With EPA’s August 7 decision to ban the weed killer Dacthal (or DCPA–dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate), Beyond Pesticides is rallying public support for the removal of atrazine from the market under the same standards of harm, inability to mitigate hazards, and the availability of alternatives. As Beyond Pesticides points out in its 2022 atrazine comments (2020 and 2016 comments included) to EPA, the agency in November 2021 released the final Biological Evaluation (BE) assessing risks to listed species from labeled uses of atrazine (in the triazine chemical family). The agency made “likely to adversely affect (LAA) determinations” for 1,013 species and 328 critical habitats, which it is now rejecting, while using a “community-equivalent level of concern (CE-LOC)” measure that is filled with uncertainty and lacks any sense of precaution with […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 13, 2024) With novel methods to provide a big-picture view of the overlap between high pesticide use and cancer incidence across the U.S, a new study has again linked pesticide exposure to a range of cancers. The study by Jacob Gerkin, D.O. and colleagues, “Comprehensive assessment of pesticide use patterns and increased cancer risk,” published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, examines the association between high-pesticide use and cancer diagnoses along with smoking incidence data and the Social Vulnerability Index, a measure used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that includes variables such as poverty, poor housing, and exposures to natural disasters and chemical spills. The researchers consider 69 pesticides used in agriculture that are monitored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They use U.S. Geological Survey data to map areas of similar crops and pesticide use patterns and incorporate public health data from the CDC to develop their final picture. In terms of threats to health, cancer remains top of mind for most people. Globally, about ten million people die of cancer each year. And while treatments for cancer and survival times have burgeoned over the years, many cancers—particularly colorectal and breast […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 8, 2024) With the use of its emergency authority—not used in nearly 40 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 7 banned a pesticide (the weed killer Dacthal or DCPA—dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate) under the “imminent hazard” clause of the federal pesticide law. At the same time, the agency is exercising its authority to prohibit the continued use of Dacthal’s existing stocks, a provision that EPA rarely uses. EPA identified serious concerns about fetal hormone disruption and resulting “low birth weight and irreversible and life-long impacts to children [impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills] exposed in-utero” and finds that there are no “practicable mitigation measures” to protect against these hazards. The last time EPA issued an emergency action like this was in 1979 when the agency acknowledged miscarriages associated with the forestry use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T—one-half of the chemical weed killer Agent Orange, sprayed over people to defoliate the landscape of Vietnam in the war there—with the most potent form of dioxin, TCDD (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin). While EPA has been congratulated for using its emergency authority, which it is obviously reluctant to use, and health and environmental activists say could be used broadly, the timeline […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 6, 2024) Factory fish farming companies sinched a win in Scotland in July after the Scottish government announced it would not put forward restrictions on emamectin (aka emamectin benzoate)—a toxic pesticide used to kill parasitic sea lice that also kills various nontarget marine life up and down the trophic ladder—until 2028. As reported over many years by The Ferret, an independent journalism cooperative based in Scotland, seafood corporations lobbied the Scottish government in a multiyear campaign to weaken environmental protection standards to advance their economic interests. Health and environmental advocates in the United States acknowledge the parallels of agribusiness, pesticide manufacturers, and their allies in undermining science-based policy and continue to call for intercontinental coordination on organic principles and standards that would render the use of toxic pesticides like emamectin obsolete. Emamectin benzoate is a derivative of avermectin, a family of macrocyclic lactone compounds often used as the primary active ingredient in insecticides targeting parasites. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers emamectin benzoate a restricted-use pesticide that is toxic to fish, mammals, and aquatic organisms. Avermectins act as poisons to the nervous system of target pests, stimulating the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system (a chemical “transmitter” produced […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 25, 2024) On July 10, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not preempt pesticide exposure victims’ state law claims against pesticide manufacturers, based on reporting from The New Lede. This decision builds on years of judicial precedent from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) that protects individuals’ right to use failure-to-warn claims against producers of toxic pesticides, including Bayer-Monsanto. The importance of judicial review is critical to protecting the public against public health impacts of toxic pesticide use in the context of last month’s SCOTUS decision ending Chevron Doctrine, and with it the end of deferring to federal regulatory agencies on ambiguities in statutory mandates. A growing coalition of environmental and public health advocates, organic farmers, trial attorneys, farmworkers, and physicians are united in pushing back against a concerted effort by industry and its allies to attack victims’ ability to sue under “failure-to-warn” through the Farm Bill, state legislatures, and the proposed federal budget for Fiscal Year 2025. Oregon Court of Appeals In 2022, a local trial court in Oregon ruled in favor of Monsanto on a lawsuit initiated by Jackson County residents Larry and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, July 1, 2024) Comments on proposed new dicamba uses are due Friday, July 5 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting public comments until July 5 on whether it should allow the expanded use of the weed killer dicamba, which has been associated with adverse impacts related to its propensity to drift off of the target application site. The comment period addresses a BASF chemical company proposal for additional food use of a dicamba product on dicamba-tolerant cotton and dicamba-tolerant soybeans. (See Beyond Pesticides’ comments.) This application is similar to Bayer CropScience’s application for XtendiMax®, for which Beyond Pesticides submitted comments in June. The proposed label for BASF’s Engenia® allows for application preplant, at-planting, preemergence, and postemergence (in-crop) for broadleaf weeds. >> Tell EPA to ban use of dicamba and other drift-prone pesticides. The U.S. Supreme Court Reversal This proposal is under consideration on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 28 that reverses a 40-year old decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which created a deference to federal agencies in the rulemaking process. In the dissent to this 6-3 decision of the court, the dissenters focus on the role of executive […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 27, 2024) Earlier this month, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on behalf of a group of ranchers and farmers in Texas harmed by biosolids contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The plaintiffs charge that their health and livelihoods were severely damaged due to contaminated biosolids leaching from neighboring properties onto their land. Despite EPA’s responsibility under the Clean Water Act (Section 405(d) and 40 CFR Part 503) to identify toxic pollutants in biosolids and regulate them to protect human health and the environment, the agency has not effectively addressed the dangers posed by PFAS in biosolid fertilizers. EPA’s failure has dramatic impacts on farmers as well as the public, who are eating or drinking PFAS-contaminated crops, dairy milk, beef, or other meat products. The shortcomings of federal regulations underscore the urgent need for a shift in how federal and state agencies approach these issues, prioritizing precaution to prevent future harm. The persistence of these legacy or “forever” chemicals in the environment illustrates the severe consequences of a historically lax regulatory framework in the U.S.  The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) has identified […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 14, 2024) The influence of the chemical industry over public policy and regulation, especially in agriculture, is glaringly obvious and has little popular support, yet no one can seem to do anything about it. Numerous analyses have detailed the ways this influence is applied—through lobbying and political donations including dark money; industry experts named to regulatory agency scientific advisory boards; and the massive public relations machines that create and sustain public uncertainty using the tobacco industry playbook revealed by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway in their 2010 book Merchants of Doubt. A more insidious tendril of industry influence is explained in U.S. Right to Know’s (USRTK) report, released this month, on pesticide manufacturers’ infiltration of the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The report, “Anatomy of a science meeting: How controversial pesticide research all but vanished from a major conference,” examines the ESA’s 2023 annual meeting—its program, sponsorships, presentations, panelists, poster sessions, meet-and-greets, budget, revenue sources, and other aspects of the event. What is revealed is a systematic and comprehensive industry presence throughout the society and its meeting. A direct consequence is the near-elimination of any scientific presentations addressing the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on insects, particularly bees. […]