Pesticide News

National Institutes of Health links dicamba to increased risk of cancer

A study from the U.S. National Institutes of Health warns that use of the pesticide dicamba increases risk of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers, acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and mantle cell lymphoma. The comprehensive study, published in International Journal of Epidemiology, followed nearly 50,000 pesticide applicators’ use of dicamba for two decades in […]

Corporate studies affirming glyphosate safety have major flaws, report finds

Reflecting a worrisome trend of regulators using industry-funded research and ignoring red flags, a new analysis of corporate-backed studies on glyphosate safety (Roundup) reveals serious flaws. The Institute of Cancer Research at the Medical University of Vienna’s 187-page report found that only two of 53 safety assessments met current international scientific standards. The others used […]

Sri Lanka’s ban on agrochemicals lowers suicide rates, earning “Policy Oscar”

The country of Sri Lanka has received the Future Policy Special Award 2021 from Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. The award recognized two policies that were instrumental in banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HPPs), chemicals responsible for thousands of suicides in the country. Five winners of the award—the “Oscar on Best Policies”—were chosen from 55 policies […]

U.S. beekeepers report second highest colony losses ever—with pesticides as major culprit

The Bee Informed Partnership reported in June the second-highest annual losses of honeybee colonies for the second year running. A preliminary report reveals that beekeepers lost nearly half (45.5%) of their colonies over the past year. Agricultural pesticides are a key driver of population decline for honeybees and other pollinators, like native bees and butterflies. […]

Texas grape growers sue over dicamba herbicide drift damage

Neal Newsom has battled many foes since 1986 to protect his 150 acres of grapevines near Plains, Texas, including cold weather and hailstorms. But in recent years he’s up against the agro-chemical dicamba herbicide sprayed on nearby GM cotton crops. Newsom filed a lawsuit recently with 56 Texas grape growers, seeking $1 million in damages […]