Search Results
Friday, August 27th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, August 27, 2021) On August 24, as reported by The Maui News, the Maui (Hawaiâi) County Council approved legislation that will stop use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers in county land management practices, allowing only those materials permitted under federal organic law. The approach set out in the bill is the creation of a comprehensive list of such materials that will be either allowed or prohibited for use, as the legislation indicates, on âany County highway, drainageway, sidewalk, right-of-way, park, building, community center, or other facility.â This decision comes on the heels of years of grassroots work and advocacy, including that of Beyond Pesticides Director of Hawai’i Organic Land Management Program Autumn Ness. The legislation (CR 21-56), which passed with a vote of 8â0 (with one member excused), will regulate pesticide and fertilizer use on county properties broadly, but will not affect property managed by the state or private owners, county agricultural parks, or county property used for agricultural purposes. The new ordinance will take effect for most county parcels one year from the August 24 approval date; the effective date for Mauiâs War Memorial Stadium Complex and Ichiro âIronâ Maehara Baseball Stadium is two years from approval, and for the […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Fertilizer, Hawaii, Lawns/Landscapes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Thursday, August 26th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, August 26, 2021) A recent study published in Environmental Research demonstrates that exposure to the herbicide glyphosate and its breakdown product reduces pregnancy length, increasing the risk of preterm birth. Preterm births occur when a fetus is born early or before 37 weeks of complete gestation. Premature births can result in chronic (long-term) illnesses among infants from lack of proper organ development and even death. Birth and reproductive complications are very common among individuals exposed to environmental toxicants, like pesticides. Considering the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports the preterm birth rate is increasing annually, studies like this can help government and health officials safeguard human health by assessing adverse health effects following prevalent chemical exposure. The study notes, âGiven the prevalent and rising exposures to glyphosate and GBHs [glyphosate-based herbicides], confirmatory studies are needed to explore reproductive effects of glyphosate and GBHs to re-assess their safety on human health and to explore possible programming consequences to lifelong health.â GBHs are the most commonly used herbicides, readily contaminating soil, water, and food globally. Although GBHs’ ubiquitous nature has been linked to carcinogenic effects, specifically non-Hodgkin lymphoma, much less research considers exposure effects on reproductive health. The study’s scientists aimed to examine the relationship […]
Posted in Birth defects, Children, Glyphosate, Reproductive Health | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 18th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, August 18, 2021) Multinational chemical company Bayer filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court this week, seeking a reversal of a lower court verdict that established Bayer liable for damages from the use of its weed killer Roundup. After purchasing Roundup-maker Monsanto in 2018, Bayer has been mired in a deluge of court battles from injured customers throughout the country who assert that their use of the glyphosate-based herbicide resulted in their cancer diagnosis. Bayer, for its part, has consistently lost these court cases. The companyâs Supreme Court petition is now regarded as its best and last chance to avert responsibility for the ongoing harm to public health caused by its carcinogenic herbicide. Bayerâs Supreme Court challenge pertains to the Hardeman v. Monsanto case. In that suit, a California court found unanimously in favor of the plaintiff, Edwin Hardeman. Mr. Hardeman told the jury he had used Roundup since the 1980s to spray poison oak and weeds around his property, resulting in his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2014. He was awarded $5.27 million, while his punitive damages were ultimately reduced from $75 to $20 million. Bayer is bringing two main arguments to the Supreme court. First, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Bayer, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Litigation, Monsanto, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 13th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, August 13, 2021)Â Across the pond in the UK, two years of trials with spring and winter wheat varieties have shown, according to the Farmer Scientist Network (FSN), which conducted the study as Crop Health North, that so-called âbiopesticides,â alone or in combination with conventional pesticides, can be useful in generating yield and grain quality comparable to those obtained through use of conventional âcrop chemistryâ (aka, synthetic chemical pesticides). According to Beyond Pesticides Executive Director Jay Feldman, biopesticides are a âmixed bag,â generally poorly understood, and defined differently by various entities and stakeholders. He notes that the term can be misleading and mixes contradictory approaches, adding that, âItâs troublesome when we continue to look for product replacements or substitutions for agricultural practices that are clearly ineffective, and in the process avoid the changes necessary to transition to organic practices,â which represent the real, long-term solution to the problems efforts such as these trials seek to remedy. The project was sponsored and supported by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) through the European Innovation Partnership (EIP-AGRI). YAS collaborated with universities, farmers, research institutes, agricultural organizations, and technology and food testing centers to conduct trials on three farms in the north of […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, August 10, 2021) President Bidenâs Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under Administrator Michael Regan, is set to reapprove the highly hazardous herbicide paraquat with fewer protections than those proposed by the Trump administration. Despite strong links to Parkinsonâs, and bans on the herbicide in the European Union, China, Brazil, and many other countries, EPAâs press release inexplicably states, âNo direct one-to-one alternatives to paraquat are available.â The move is part of a string of actions that have pesticide reform advocates increasingly concerned that the Biden Administration is not living up to his initial promises to improve health and environmental protections. Paraquat is the most toxic herbicide still on the market. As EPA readily admits, one small sip of paraquat can be fatal. Apart from its acute toxicity, chronic exposure to the herbicide is strongly linked to the development of Parkinsonâs disease. But its association with Parkinsonâs is merely the most well-known health concern â the chemical is a likely carcinogen, harms the reproductive system, and damages organs like the kidney and liver. It is hazardous to birds and bees, and prone to leaching into groundwater, where it disrupts the health of aquatic ecosystems. The Trump administrationâs decision to reapprove […]
Posted in Agriculture, Bayer, Cancer, Chlorpyrifos, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, Monsanto, Paraquat, Parkinson's, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, July 23rd, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, July 23, 2021) The Rockefeller Foundation has just published a report, True Cost of Food: Measuring What Matters to Transform the U.S. Food System, which identifies the real-but-under-recognized downsides of the U.S. food system. The report notes that, for all its reputed bounty, the food system âcomes with hidden costs â to our health, to our climate,â and to the many people who make sure that food reaches the population. The report calls for a true accounting of the costs of food in the U.S. Beyond Pesticides welcomes the broad framework of the report, but notes that a true accounting would necessarily include the costs of the externalities of conventional agriculture, including those related to pesticides: the costs of pollution and its cleanup (when that even happens), of lost pollination and biodiversity, of lost productivity from illness, and of health care costs related to pesticide use. Remarkably, for all its repetition of deleterious impacts on climate, biodiversity, and health, the report barely mentions either pesticidesâ roles in causing such impacts, or the clear solution to so many of the negatives in the food system â organic, regenerative agriculture. The reportâs economic analysis applies a true cost accounting (TCA) […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Biodiversity, Climate Change, contamination, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fertilizer, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, April 30th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, April 30, 2021)Â A bioinformatics tool developed by researchers from the University of Turku in Finland indicates that â54% of species in the core human gut microbiome are sensitive to glyphosate.â This tool may help predict which microbes in the human gut could be negatively affected by exposure to the ubiquitous herbicide. Because damage to the gut biome is linked to a variety of diseases, this information could prove critical in recognition of the role(s) glyphosate may play in the development of human diseases. Published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, the researchersâ paper states, âThe widespread use of glyphosate may have a strong effect on gut microbiomes as well as on human health.â Beyond Pesticides has long reported on the relationship between glyphosate and human health, including potential effects on the human gut microbiome. Used in multiple herbicide formulations, glyphosate has become widely known as the active ingredient in Bayer/Monsantoâs RoundupÂŽ, the most-used herbicide worldwide. The pervasiveness of glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) use in agriculture, and of Roundup in particular, is due largely to their pairing with genetically engineered (GE) seeds for soy, canola, and corn crops. In many regions, these GE seeds â engineered to resist the glyphosate […]
Posted in Agriculture, Glyphosate, Microbiata, Microbiome, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, April 23rd, 2021
It all started with New York City public school teacher Paula Rogovin and her kindergarten class. They went down to city call, wrote letters, shared artwork, and got the attention of Council Member Ben Kallos, who sponsored reform legislation. (Beyond Pesticides, April 23, 2021) Yesterday, on Earth Day, the New York City Council passed landmark legislation to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides in parks and playgrounds. This new law eliminates the use of toxic pesticides, like glyphosate/Roundup, codifying a ban on pesticides with an allowance for only those permitted under federal organic standards. A few hours before passage of the bill, Intro. 1524 (see detailed factsheet below), the measureâs sponsor, Council Member Ben Kallos, and the Speaker of the Council, Corey Johnson,  were joined at a press conference by: Bertha Lewis, president of the Black Institute; those who began the movement for the legislation, retired teacher Paula Rogovin and some of her fomer students from Public School (PS) 290 in Manhattan; Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides; and, Patti and Doug  Wood, executive director and program director, respectively, of Grassroots Environmental Education. âParks should be for playing not pesticides,â said Council Member Ben Kallos. âAll families should be […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Glyphosate, Lawns/Landscapes, New York, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, April 20, 2021) Roundup products manufactured by Bayer-Monsanto kill exposed bumblebees at high rates, according to a new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, which points to undisclosed inert ingredients (those that typically make up a majority of the product formulation) as the primary culprit. Roundup products have become synonymous with their main active ingredient glyphosate, but Bayer-Monsanto has been quietly reformulating its flagship product with different herbicides in a likely attempt to rebrand as glyphosate cancer lawsuits drag down the companyâs performance. The new study reveals that these new Roundup products present the same hazards to pollinators as glyphosate-based formulations, raising important questions about the pesticide regulatory process. Researchers based at Royal Holloway University of London, UK conducted the present study to better understand the hazards posed by herbicides often characterized as âbee safeâ to the public. To do so, 10 healthy bumblebee (Bombus spp) colonies were retained, split into small groups, and sprayed with a particular herbicide. Four different herbicide products were employed, including: i) Fast Action RoundupÂŽ ReadyâToâUse (containing glyphosate); ii) RoundupÂŽ Speed Ultra (containing acetic acid and no glyphosate); iii) WeedolÂŽ Gun! Rootkill Plus (containing glyphosate) and; iv) RoundupÂŽ ProActive (contains glyphosate […]
Posted in Agriculture, Glyphosate, Herbicides, Lawns/Landscapes, Pollinators, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2021) Soil sprayed with weedkillers glyphosate, glufosinate, or dicamba are likely to contain higher amounts of antibiotic resistant bacteria, according to research published earlier this month in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people develop an antibiotic resistant infection, and over 23,000 die. Authors of the study say widespread herbicide use is likely playing a role. “Our results suggest that the use of herbicides could indirectly drive antibiotic resistance evolution in agricultural soil microbiomes, which are repeatedly exposed to herbicides during weed control,â said Ville Friman, PhD of the University of York in the United Kingdom. Scientists began their investigation by looking at changes to soil communities in soil microcosms over the course of a roughly two months. Microcosms were grouped by the herbicide applied, while a control microcosm remained unexposed. Each microcosm had a single herbicide applied at a rate reaching 10 parts per million (ppm) in soil. The researchers replicated each treatment 12 times. Contrary to the pesticide industryâs claim that these chemicals break down quickly and become inert by binding to soil particles, large proportions of the herbicides remained in the soil at […]
Posted in Agriculture, Antibiotic Resistance, Glyphosate, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 16th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, February 16, 2021) The climate crisis, with unprecedented temperature shifts, storms, and wildfires, and the devastating decline in biodiversity are escalating as a result of uncontrolled and unnecessary reliance on toxic chemicals. These existential crises that threaten life, to be successfully thwarted, require a meaningful holistic strategy that commits our nation to ending our fossil fuel-based economy and use of petroleum-based materials that release harmful levels of carbon and noxious gases (including greenhouse gases/GHG) into the environment. The proposals now in Congress and the administration require close attention and scrutiny if we are to meet the urgency of the moment. The carbon market approach embodied in the Growing Climate Solutions Act and President Biden’s Climate 21 Project does not adequately and comprehensively respond to the current and looming interconnected threats to public health and the environment. The focus on carbon to the exclusion of a holistic approach that addresses complex life-supporting biological communities allows the continuation of disproportionate hazards to people of color and communities living adjacent to toxic sites. The mechanisms of carbon trading or the purchasing of carbon offsets under consideration do not establish an end date for admittedly unacceptable materials and practices, nor do they ensure a […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, January 29, 2021) More oversight is needed to ensure farmworkers are protected from toxic pesticides, according to a report published this month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) (the federal agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for Congress). Revisions to the Worker Protection Standards (WPS) governing farmworker safety were updated by the Obama administration in 2015, but GAO identified a number of shortfalls in EPAâs administration of the changes. GAO focused its review on the implementation of the âdesignated representativeâ provision, which grants farmworkers the ability to task an individual they designate to request information on toxic pesticides from their employers. Providing farmworkers with a designated representative allows for the access of pesticide application and hazard information, so that they may take proper precautions or seek medical care. A farmworker may use this provision when they are no longer near the farm they worked on, or if there are language barriers. Without this provision, the information farmworkers receive would be at the whim of employers, and past incidents show that lack of information can lead to hazardous, abusive conditions for workers. EPA officials, state officials, and stakeholders told GAO there was no evidence of such […]
Posted in Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farmworkers, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 11th, 2021
(Beyond Pesticides, January 11, 2021)Â Treatment of chemical companies as clients rather than regulated entities is not new at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but corruption reached new highs during the Trump administration. With a new administration, it is time to end the rule of corporate deception at EPA. This goes beyond the use of the Congressional Review Act to reverse individual rules (adopted in the last six months) that defy scientific findings and compliance with environmental and public health standards. We can no longer rely on bad science and unscrupulous chemical manufacturers that put profits above concerns for the health of people and the environment. EPA must audit pesticide registrants for integrity to scientific process and set a moratorium on future pesticide registration until the agency can assure the public that their science is not corrupt, as it has been in the past. Tell President-elect Biden and Congress to clean up the corruption of science at EPA and set a moratorium on future pesticide registrationsâuntil the agency can assure the public that the chemical manufacturers’ science supporting pesticide registrations is not corrupt. The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting published a story in early December on yet another example of the […]
Posted in Atrazine, BASF, Bayer, Corporations, Corteva, Dicamba, Dow Chemical, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, Monsanto, Syngenta, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 18th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, December 18, 2020)Â The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting published a story in early December on yet another example of the corporate malfeasance that exalts profit far above concerns for safety, health, and ecosystems. The Midwest Centerâs investigation finds that Monsanto and BASF, makers of the extremely problematic herbicide dicamba, engaged in a variety of deceitful, unethical, and possibly fraudulent practices to enable its use. The bottom line is that the companies knew, before they released dicamba, about the massive damage it would cause â and then put it on the market. Beyond Pesticides has reported on the corporate greed that fuels the downstream public health, environmental, and economic devastation these pesticides cause, and advocated for their removal from the market. Such unscrupulous behavior is not confined to these companies; Bayer (which now owns Monsanto) and Syngenta are also implicated in similar actions related to other pesticides: glyphosate and atrazine, respectively. Over the course of the past couple of decades, large agrochemical corporations have pursued not only extreme market penetration for their toxic products, but also, vertical integration that, in the case of Bayer/Monsanto, ârepresents a near-monopoly on the agriculture supply chain.â Corporate ownership of the patent on genetically […]
Posted in Agriculture, Atrazine, BASF, Corporations, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, Litigation, Monsanto, Pesticide Drift, Pesticide Regulation, Syngenta, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, December 4th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, December 4, 2020) Amid the maelstrom of national political news related to the recent election, and the Trump administrationâs upcoming exit, comes a release of the Environmental Protection Agencyâs (EPAâs) draft biological evaluation (BE) of glyphosate. The assessment indicates that use of this ubiquitous herbicide likely threatens nearly every animal and plant species on the U.S. list of threatened and endangered species â 93% of them, in fact. Chemical and Engineering News reports that the EPA announcement was made public only a few days after the agency also reported that atrazine (another commonly used and toxic herbicide) probably harms more than half of those species. Given the Trump EPAâs eagerness, during the past four years, to serve industry interests rather than protect human health, biodiversity, and functional ecosystems, the timing of this released evaluation during the so-called âlame duckâ period is puzzling. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in many herbicides, including RoundupTM, Monsantoâs (now Bayerâs) ubiquitous and widely used weed killer; it is very commonly used with genetically modified companion seeds for a variety of staple crops, as well as for weed control on managed landscapes. These seeds are genetically engineered to be glyphosate tolerant. Glyphosate-based herbicides are the most […]
Posted in Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Glyphosate, Litigation, Uncategorized, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | No Comments »
Thursday, October 8th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, October 8, 2020) Research from the University of WisconsinâMadison (UWM), suggests that fludioxonilâa commonly used agricultural fungicideâdecreases the human bodyâs ability to defend itself against illnesses, like COVID-19, and promotes disease permanency. Tristan Brandhorst, a Ph.D. scientist at UWM, notes that a pesticide-induced reduction in the antioxidant glutathione could be responsible for this lack of bodily defense against disease. Although many studies examine how pesticides adversely affect the human body (i.e., cancer, respiratory issues, etc.), very few studies assess how pesticides reinforce chemical disruption patterns that reduce levels of vital chemicals needed for normal bodily function. The steady rise in U.S. pesticide use, including disinfectants, threatens animals and humans, as exposure to indiscriminate dispersal of pesticides cause a whirlwind of health risks. As the total U.S. COVID-19 cases rise above 7.5 million, global leaders need to understand extensive pesticide spraying is not a viable solution to prevent illness and causes more chronic harm from exposure in the long run. Dr. Brandhorst stresses the need for proper reevaluation of pesticide risks stating, âThe issue needs more study, [and] might also warrant a reworking of how [the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] evaluates pesticides.â Amidst the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the global demand […]
Posted in coronavirus, Disease/Health Effects, fludioxonil, Fungicides | No Comments »
Friday, September 11th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, September 11, 2020) In late August, the National Black Farmers Association filed suit against the chemical company Bayer/Monsanto, seeking to stop the sale of its ubiquitous, glyphosate-based herbicide, Roundup. According to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, the lawsuit argues that Black farmers are, essentially, forced to use Roundup and incur the risks of developing non-Hodgkin Lymphoma or other cancers (or health impacts) because of the exigencies of the pesticide and biotech industry âgripâ on agriculture in the U.S. The suit maintains that Bayer (which owns Monsanto, the original manufacturer of Roundup) knowingly failed, and continues to fail, to warn farmers adequately about the dangers of the pesticide. In a Labor Day Daily News post, Beyond Pesticides noted that current pesticide laws result in disproportionate impacts on workers, including agricultural workers of color. Beyond Pesticides is committed to addressing the conditions that give rise to disproportionate harm and to working in broad coalitions to correct them. Many countries have banned use of Roundup, largely because of glyphosateâs strong links to many health issues, including cancer, endocrine disruption, Parkinsonâs Disease, and reproductive and immunological anomalies. The compound is regarded as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer […]
Posted in Agriculture, Glyphosate, Litigation, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, August 17, 2020)Â Once numbering in the millions, barely 29,000 western monarch butterflies were found in California at last count. Pesticides pack a one-two punch against monarchs. Insecticidesâparticularly neonicotinoidsâpoison the caterpillars and butterflies as they feed. Glyphosateâthe active ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s RoundupÂŽ â is wiping out milkweed, the only food source for monarch caterpillars. This has contributed to monarchs’ 90% decline in the past 20 years alone. They could vanish within our lifetimes. Home and garden stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot can play a huge role in ending the use of this toxic pesticide in our backyards and across the country. Already, Lowe’s is removing neonicotinoid products from its live plant offerings and store shelves, and Home Depot is eliminating use of neonicotinoids in its live plant offerings. They could stop selling RoundupÂŽ. More importantly, they could encourage organic practices through their product offerings and consumer education. Ask Home Depot and Lowe’s to get RoundupÂŽ off their shelves and promote and educate on organic! Companies like Lowe’s and Home Depot could be leaders by removing products containing glyphosate/RoundupÂŽ from their physical stores and onlineâfollowing the example of their competitor, Costco. This would send a powerful message to Bayer […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Glyphosate, Home Depot, Lowes, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, August 13, 2020) Levels of the notorious herbicide compound glyphosate in the human body are reduced by 70% through a one-week switch to an organic diet, finds a new, peer-reviewed study published in August 2020 in the journal Environmental Research. This result emphasizes both the ubiquity of this compound in the human body, and diet as the primary source of exposure for most people. It also adds to the evidence for Beyond Pesticidesâ assertions that: (1) chemical-intensive agriculture must be abandoned, for a variety of reasons that include human health, and (2) in the lead-up to a transition to organic and regenerative agriculture, consuming organic foods as much as is practicable is powerful protection from glyphosate, and from the assault of multiple chemical pesticides to which most people are exposed. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the popular weed killer RoundupTM, which has been used intensively in the U.S. and around the world, especially during the last couple of decades. It is very commonly used on crops grown from genetically engineered (GE) companion seeds for a variety of staple crops (e.g., soybeans, cotton, and corn). These GE seeds are glyphosate-tolerant, whose attribute has allowed growers to apply the herbicide and […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Bayer, Genetic Engineering, Glyphosate, Monsanto, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, July 14th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, July 14, 2020) The Mexican government announced late last month that it plans to phase out the importation and use of glyphosate in the country over the next four years. The announcement means that Mexico will join other countries, such as Luxembourg, Vietnam, Germany in prohibiting the chemical and the toxic consumer products, like Roundup, that contain it as an ingredient. International watchdogs are keeping an eye on reactions from the United States, which in recent years has worked to intervene in other countries’ decision-making over toxic pesticides. The governmentâs announcement cites the Precautionary Principle as part of its decision-making. According to the Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, âWhere an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.â In the case of glyphosate, there is strong evidence, per a 2015 review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), that glyphosate is carcinogenic. Since 2015, several more publications have added weight to glyphosateâs link to cancer. A February 2018 meta-analysis finds âa compelling link between exposures to GBH [glyphosate-based herbicides] and increased risk of NHL [non-Hodgkin […]
Posted in Cancer, Glyphosate, International, Kidney failure, non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Parkinson's, Prostate Cancer, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, June 29th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, June 29, 2020) Bayer’s Monsanto is requesting non-regulated status for corn that will increase the use of drift-prone and toxic herbicides. This means that the planting of a new genetically engineered (GE) variety of corn, which requires substantial weed killer use, will not be restricted in any way. The syndrome of ‘more-corn, more-pesticides, more-poisoning, more-contamination’ must stopâas we effect an urgent systemic transformation to productive and profitable organic production practices. Because USDA is proposing to allow a new herbicide-dependent crop under the Plant Protection Act, the agency must, but does not, consider the adverse impacts associated with the production practices on other plants and the effects on the soil in which they are grown. Business as usual is not an option for a livable future. Sign the petition. Tell USDA we don’t need more use of 2,4-D, Dicamba, and other toxic herbicides associated with the planting of new GE corn. Bayer-Monsanto has developed multi-herbicide tolerant MON 87429 maize, which is tolerant to the herbicides 2,4-D, dicamba, glyphosate, glufosinate, and aryloxyphenoxypropionate (AOPP) acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitors (so-called âFOPâ herbicides, such as quizalofop). Now the company wants this corn to be deregulatedâallowing it to be planted and the herbicides […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Agriculture, Bayer, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Genetic Engineering, Monsanto, Take Action, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, June 9, 2020) Use of the weed killer dicamba on genetically engineered (GE) cotton and soybeans is now prohibited after a federal court ruling against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. A coalition of conservation groups filed suit in 2018 after EPA renewed a conditional registration for dicambaâs âover the topâ (OTT) use on GE cotton and soy developed to tolerate repeated sprayings of the herbicide. “For the thousands of farmers whose fields were damaged or destroyed by dicamba drift despite our warnings, the National Family Farm Coalition is pleased with today’s ruling,” said National Family Farm Coalition president Jim Goodman in a press release. First registered in the late 1960s, dicamba has been linked to cancer, reproductive effects, neurotoxicity, birth defects, and kidney and liver damage. It is also toxic to birds, fish and other aquatic organisms, and known to leach into waterways after an application. It is a notoriously drift-prone herbicide. Studies and court filings show dicamba able to drift well over a mile off-site after an application. Bayerâs Monsanto thought they could solve this problem. The âRoundup Readyâ GE agricultural model the company developed, with crops engineered to tolerate recurrent applications of their […]
Posted in Agriculture, BASF, Bayer, Dicamba, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Genetic Engineering, Litigation, Monsanto, Uncategorized, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) | No Comments »
Friday, May 15th, 2020
(Beyond Pesticides, May 15, 2020)Â New research out of Japanâs Chiba University suggests that exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the most commonly used pesticide worldwide (Roundup), may be a risk factor in the development of Parkinsonâs Disease. The ubiquity of glyphosate use in agriculture â which leaves residues of the toxic chemical in food â may mean that exposures to it represent a significant risk factor for the disease. Glyphosate is already implicated or proved in the development of numerous health anomalies, including cancer. Beyond Pesticides recognizes that pesticides play a variety of roles in causing or exacerbating negative health outcomes, including Parkinsonâs Disease (PD). Transitioning pest management â in agriculture, land management, and household and personal care contexts â to nontoxic and organic approaches is the critical step away from bathing humans and the Earth in harmful chemicals. The researchers in this subject study, out of the Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Healthâs Division of Clinical Neuroscience, sought to investigate whether exposures to glyphosate could impact dopaminergic neurotoxicity in the brains of mice. They found that exposures to glyphosate in adult mice intensified a type of neurotoxicity associated with PD. [The abstract for the research paper, titled […]
Posted in Glyphosate, Parkinson's, Uncategorized | 17 Comments »