Pesticides

EPA risk assessment of dicamba herbicide admits extensive, ongoing damage to plants but falls short of a ban

In August, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its required risk assessment of the widely used weedkiller dicamba. While acknowledging unprecedented drift damage to crops and non-target plants, the agency stopped short of banning the chemical. Bill Freese of the Center for Food Safety calls the recent assessment “schizophrenic.” “EPA must end all over-the-top registrations […]

University of Idaho finds correlation between cancer and agricultural chemicals in 11 states

Adults and children in Idaho and other Western states are vulnerable to cancer events due to farm chemicals, primarily fumigants, a new study reports. Researchers at University of Idaho analyzed federal and state health and agricultural data and published their results in GeoHealth. Forty-four of Idaho’s counties and 459 counties in the Western U.S. were […]

CDC finds toxic weedkiller glyphosate in 87% of children tested

About 87% of 650 children tested had detectable levels of the ubiquitous and toxic herbicide glyphosate in their urine, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Food is the main route of exposure to glyphosate for the children, aged 18 and under, according to CDC researchers. Glyphosate is the active […]

Federal court denies Bayer’s appeal, reviving cancer lawsuit

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery, Alabama has dealt another blow to chemical giant Bayer over its controversial Roundup herbicide. The federal appeals court rejected the argument that federal law shielded the company from state laws claims, such as the one from John Carson, diagnosed with malignant fibrous histiocytoma after using Roundup […]

Big ag groups urge Biden to withdraw Solicitor General recommendation that Supreme Court not review Roundup lawsuit

Solicitor General brief says there is no sound reason for Supreme Court to review litigation In the wake of a brief by the U.S. Solicitor General recommending that the U.S. Supreme Court not review litigation against Monsanto over its weedkiller’s link to cancer, U.S. agriculture groups sent a “blistering letter” to President Biden urging him […]