Pesticides

Syngenta moving to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease

By Carey Gillam Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease, Syngenta has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims. The company and lead counsel for thousands of plaintiffs have “entered into a signed Letter Agreement intended to resolve” the litigation, an April 14 court […]

North Dakota and Georgia pass “Monsanto Protection Act”

Republican lawmakers across the U.S. have sponsored bills this year to protect pesticide makers from lawsuits—and in North Dakota and Georgia, they’ve passed. In April, North Dakota’s governor signed the so-called “Monsanto Protection Act” into law, making it the first state to shield global agrochemical maker Bayer from lawsuits over failing to warn customers that […]

Pesticide policy expert tours Iowa to educate people about pesticide immunity bill

Bayer lobbied the state’s legislature to pass legislation that would give them immunity from lawsuits over harm caused by their pesticides Agriculture economist and pesticide policy expert Chuck Benbrook was invited by the Iowa Farmers Union to speak to Iowa citizens throughout the state about proposed legislation in the Iowa legislature that would give pesticide […]

Female reproductive health adversely affected by glyphosate, research finds

A recent study published in Reproductive Sciences found that exposure to glyphosate, a widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Roundup, can cause damage to female fertility and reproductive health. The researchers advocate for a broader understanding of the risks glyphosate poses to human health to better shape public policy, and suggest finding less […]

“Cancer gag act” to give pesticide companies immunity from lawsuits stopped in Iowa

For the second year in a row, legislation that would protect pesticide companies like Bayer from lawsuits over their products’ link to cancer did not pass Iowa’s House of Representatives. The Iowa Senate passed the so-called “Cancer Gag Act” in late March by a slim margin—26 in favor versus 21 opposed—but the bill lacked enough […]