pesticides

The Center of Environmental Health, a national watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit against Dow Chemical, because of the cancer risks related to its pesticide Telone, also known as 1,3-D. “Telone ... is a known carcinogen that pollutes dozens of rural areas throughout California; it is the third most heavily used pesticide in the state, and has been found to linger in the air for days after application," says a CEH press release.

Researchers at MIT figured out a way to get pesticides to better adhere to plant leaves, cutting the amount they sprayed by 90 percent and yielding similar results, according to Modern Farmer.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton issued an executive order limiting the use of neonicotinoid pesticides to a demonstrated need by farmers to prevent economic losses to their crops, says Minnesota Public Radio. The pesticides are believed to be a factor in steep declines in bee populations, along with parasites, disease, poor nutrition and bad weather.

With the widespread adoption of genetically engineered crops — accounting for 94 percent of all soybeans and 93 percent of all corn in the U.S. in 2015 — the use of the herbicides rose, although insecticide use in corn declined, according to a new study published in the journal Science.

The level of neonicotinoid pesticides found on plants sold by large retailers to gardeners dropped to 23 percent this spring, according to a survey that looked at garden plants in 14 U.S. cities. In 2013 and 2014, neonicotinoid residue was found on more than half of the samples taken. Some experts blame the class of pesticides for Colony Collapse Disorder and other detrimental effects on pollinators.

A year-old study by Washington State University researchers suggests that honeybees face little risk of harm from neonicotinoid pesticides in everyday settings. The study, which examined 149 apiaries in rural, urban and agricultural areas around the state, was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology.

An 18-year study of 60 wild bee species in Britain found that populations declined when the bees foraged on crops treated with neonicintinoid pesticides, according to the Washington Post. "The study provides some of the first evidence that the effects of neonicotinoid exposure can scale up to cause major damage to bees," the Post said.

Earlier this year, when France voted to not extend glyphosate’s EU license for 18 months, the decision was personal for President François Hollande, says Politico EU. Hollande essentially had to choose between siding with his best friend in government, Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll, and the mother of his four children, Energy and Environment Minister Ségolène Royal.

The administrative arm of the European Union opened an in-depth review of the proposed $130 billion merger of Dow and DuPont, identifying its three primary areas of concern as seeds, pesticides and petrochemicals.

An EPA appeals board that oversees pesticide regulation upheld cancellation of U.S. use of the insecticide flubendiamide, made by Bayer and sold under the brand name Belt, said Agri-Pulse.

Honeybees are exposed to an astonishing range of chemicals, not just the neonicotinoid pesticides often tabbed as the cause of population declines, says a Purdue study. The research suggests honeybees in the Corn Belt are exposed to considerably higher overall level of pesticide exposure than previously thought.

Monsanto says Bayer isn't offering enough to justify a merger but that it's open to continued talks with the German company. An official at Johns Hopkins' Center for a Livable Future says a merger would "be a real shock to the food system" because of the potential of higher prices to farmers for seeds and agricultural chemicals in a sector undergoing consolidation, reported Marketwatch.

Two days before the EU is set to vote on whether to relicense the pesticide glyphosate, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization have decided that the chemical is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet,” reports The Guardian.

What kind of produce you eat makes all the difference in your pesticide exposure, says a paper out by Consumer Reports. For example, “eating one serving of green beans from the U.S. is 200 times riskier than eating a serving of U.S.-grown broccoli.”

Children face some of the greatest risk of exposure to dangerous pesticides when they live near farm fields or go to schools near them, says a report by Pesticide Action Network North America, which describes itself as a challenger of the global proliferation of pesticides.

Earthjustice, an environmental nonprofit law firm, served Hawaii’s Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) with a notice of intent to sue, claiming the agency has allowed pesticides to contaminate a drainage ditch on the island of Kauai, says The Civil Beat. ADC is a branch of the Hawaiian Department of Agriculture, leasing thousands of acres of land to farms that plant genetically engineered crops.