pesticides
U.S. judge rules EPA pesticide applicator regulation is in effect
The Trump administration improperly and repeatedly delayed the pesticide applicator rule issued by the EPA in early 2017, decided U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who declared the rule to be in effect.
In Roundup case, federal judge vets the experts for testimony
A federal lawsuit alleging Monsanto’s top-selling weed killer, Roundup, causes cancer is at a pivotal moment as the presiding judge deliberates on which scientific experts will be permitted to testify before a jury. A verdict preventing key experts from linking Roundup’s main ingredient, glyphosate, with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma could deliver a disastrous blow to the case filed by farmers, landscapers, and consumers suffering from cancer. <strong>No paywall</strong>
House bill would suspend use of neonicotinoid insecticides
Two Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides, with the goal of reducing high mortality rates of honeybees and other pollinating species.
Pesticide applicators warned Illinois about potential dicamba damage
The Illinois Department of Agriculture was warned a year ago about the potential crop damage that could be caused by the herbicide dicamba if the department didn’t tighten regulations on its use, says a report by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
EPA will review minimum-age rule on handling pesticides
A 2015 update of the EPA’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard required that farmworkers who handle or apply pesticides be at least 18 years old. The EPA now says it “has initiated a process to revise certain requirements in the WPS.”
EPA may revise rule protecting farmworkers from pesticides
The EPA is considering changes to a 2015 rule that requires pesticide handlers to be at least 18 years old and bars the application of pesticides if farmworkers are nearby, said Bloomberg.
Monsanto halts sale of new pesticide after skin complaints
After users complained of skin irritation, including rashes, Monsanto is delaying until further notice the launch of NemaStrike — a new farm chemical used to kill worms on corn, soybeans and cotton. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did extensive evaluations of the product before approving it for use, according to Monsanto, which has described NemaStrike as ‘blockbuster technology,’” reports Reuters. Monsanto argues that some of its field testers may have been using the spray incorrectly or not wearing the proper protection.
Illegal pot farms wreak havoc on national forests
Mexican drug cartels, operating illegal marijuana farms on public lands, are polluting forests and saddling the federal government with millions of dollars in clean-up costs. Trespass marijuana farms are thought to number in the hundreds of thousands in California alone. The sites “wreak havoc on the land, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of pounds of garbage, leaching caustic chemicals, polluting watersheds, and damaging the habitat of endangered and at-risk species,” reports High Country News.
Insecticide a threat to migrating songbirds, says study
Research by the University of Saskatchewan provides “the first direct evidence that neonicotinoids can harm songbirds and their migration,” said the Guardian, by causing the birds to lose weight and their sense of direction.
Minnesota soybean task force suggests a temperature cut-off for dicamba
State officials should set a cut-off date for spraying dicamba on genetically engineered soybeans as well as a temperature cut-off of 85 degrees to reduce greatly the chance of damage to neighboring crops, says a task force of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. The state restrictions would be in addition to the more stringent rules recently adopted by the EPA.
Enviros worry EPA will dismiss science showing pyrethroids’ risk to kids
On the heels of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s eleventh-hour reversal last March of an Obama-era ban on chlorpyrifos — an insecticide that can permanently damage a child’s developing brain, according to the EPA’s own scientists — the agency is evaluating yet another family of controversial pesticides possibly linked to attention deficit disorders, cognitive problems, and autism.
Honey tests show global neonic contamination
Seventy-five percent of honey samples taken from around the world contained traces of neonicotinoids — a class of insecticides harmful to honeybees, says a study published in the journal Science.
Dicamba debacle spreads, Illinois sees more crop damage
The 2017 growing season was supposed to be the year of “spotless” soybean fields after Monsanto introduced a new generation of soybeans – the largest single biotechnology launch in the company’s history. The new soybeans can tolerate the use of dicamba, a traditional herbicide used on corn that spreads easily and has historically harmed soybeans. But the Illinois Department of Agriculture has received 368 complaints so far in 2017, which are more alleged pesticide misuse complaints than in the previous three years combined, according to a review of a statewide database of complaints by the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
Western monarch butterflies on verge of extinction, says study
Monarch butterflies west of the Rocky Mountains are facing extinction, as the number wintering in California has plummeted by more than 90 percent since 1980, says a study published by the journal Biological Conservation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is debating whether to grant endangered species status to the insect.
High exposure to pesticides linked to higher risk of birth abnormalities
Ahead of chlorpyrifos decision, Pruitt signaled a new tone on regulations
The new EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, told a farm group, "[T]his is a new day, a new future, for a common-sense approach to environmental protection," in the weeks before the EPA announced it would allow continued agricultural use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, according to records obtained by the New York Times. Environmental groups say the records, provided through the Freedom of Information Act, show EPA was doing favors for industry; the EPA said it was following the science.
Neonic pesticides keep wild bees from laying eggs, says study
Wild bumblebee queens exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides were 26 percent less likely to lay eggs than unexposed queens, says a study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Pesticides and plastics to blame in plummeting sperm counts
For years, scientists have warned that male sperm counts are dropping around the world, but critics — chemical companies included — have questioned the data. But now, the largest, most rigorous study to date shows sperm counts are down by nearly 59.3 percent in North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, while sperm concentration has dropped by 52 percent overall over almost 40 years. This time, even many skeptics are convinced.