Pesticide Hazards

Over half of sperm samples contained high levels of glyphosate, study finds

A French fertility clinic reported that over 55% of sperm samples showed significant levels of the weedkiller glyphosate—suggesting potential harm to reproductive health. In addition, researchers found impacts on DNA and a link between glyphosate concentrations and oxidative stress on seminal plasma. The evidence points to “a negative impact of glyphosate on human reproductive health […]

California moves closer to banning paraquat

California is moving closer to banning the controversial herbicide paraquat after a legislative committee recently allowed the measure to proceed, and it then passed the state’s assembly. The ban would take effect Jan. 1, 2026 and outlaw the “use, manufacture, sale, delivery, holding, or offering for sale in commerce” of any pesticide product that contains paraquat. The […]

How do we reduce pesticide use while empowering farmers? A more nuanced approach could help

By Jessica Knapp, assistant professor in ecology, Trinity College Dublin Pesticides threaten humans, wildlife and our environment. Food production must change. But farmers are already pushed to their margins. Organic agriculture produces less food and requires more land. An immediate end to pesticide use will probably cause productivity to drop and prices to soar. There’s no simple answer […]

Busting the Myths on New GMOs

As the European Union is preparing to decide on whether and how to deregulate new GMOs, Slow Food look sat the most frequent claims made by the biotechnology and seed industry to promote new GMOs and their deregulation. Spoiler: they’re misleading, if not deceptive. Myth #1: Changes brought by new GM techniques (or “genome editing”) to […]

EU to halve pesticides by 2030 to protect bees, biodiversity: draft

In a document published May 20, the European Commission proposed cutting in half the use of chemicals and “high-risk” pesticides by 2030. The proposal seeks to protect pollinators—bee colonies have undergone extreme losses in the past 15 years, threatening 76% of food production in Europe, officials claim. Outdoor use of neonicotinoids was banned in 2018. […]