(Beyond Pesticides, January 18, 2013) Joining the list of speakers at Beyond Pesticides’ 31st National Pesticide Forum are Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D., the biologist best known for his research on the effects of atrazine on frogs, and Isaac N. Pessah, Ph.D., the Chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 14, 2013) Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle State Park, located on Lake Erie, recently contracted a commercial helicopter to spray herbicides on 170 acres of the park in an attempt to control an overgrowth of phragmites and narrow leaf cattail. This decision to aerial spray herbicides comes after the park has unsuccessfully tried to control these [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2013) The public health and environmental non-profit, Toxics Action Center (TAC) released a report in December that surveys pesticide use on public school grounds across the state of Maine and urges policy change to stop spraying. The report, “A Call for Safer School Grounds: A Survey of Pesticide Use on K-12 Public [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2013) Boston health officials say new city data indicate that asthma incidences have dropped nearly by half since 2005. This is attributed to Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and Boston Public Health Commission implementation of an integrated pest management (IPM) program in low-income housing to reduce the number of cockroaches and rodents, while reducing [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 7, 2013) After organic seed farmers found genetically engineered (GE) sugar beets planted by Syngenta AG, a multinational Swiss corporation, within four miles of their farms, a local branch of GMO-Free Oregon filed a petition to ban GE crops in Jackson County. Farmers have already been forced to throw away seed or [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 2, 2013) As the medical community weighs in, the new year begins with a push in New Jersey to adopt the Safe Playing Fields Act (S1143 / A2412), straightforward common sense legislation to remove children from harm’s way by stopping hazardous lawn pesticide use on school grounds. The bill’s sponsors, state Senators [...]

(Beyond Pesticides – December 13, 2012) The 31st National Pesticide Forum, Sustainable Families, Farms and Food: Resilient communities through organic practices, will be held April 5-6, 2013 (Friday afternoon and all day Saturday) at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. The conference is convened by Beyond Pesticides, La Montanita Coop, and the Universtiy [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 28, 2012) Earlier this year the maker of the fumigant methyl iodide indicated it would stop producing the toxic chemical. Now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the registrant, Arysta LifeScience North America, LLC have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to formally terminate all agricultural use of methyl iodide in [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 12, 2012) During the recent elections, North Dakotans voted to accept a controversial amendment to the North Dakota Constitution that protects practices used in Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that are harmful to human health and the environment. The North Dakota Farming and Ranching Amendment states, “No law shall be enacted which [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 9, 2012) Proposition 37, the statewide proposition California voted on to label foods produced with genetically engineered (GE) ingredients, was narrowly defeated at the polls on Wednesday night by a margin of 6.2 percentage points, however uncounted votes may shift the results. Had it been approved, Californians would have required labels for [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 8, 2012) In response to an emergency exemption granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow the unregistered use of the herbicide fluridone on cotton in order to control glyphosate-resistant weeds, the agency announced in the Federal Register Monday that it is establishing time-limited tolerances for residues of the chemical [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 25, 2012) Eight miles south of Durango, Colorado in a 65-acre plot of barren land an unusual set of guests has set out to manage weeds, restore soils, and improve land quality. Land owner Kim Craden, who shares the land with Chevron Corp, has contracted Lani Malmberg, board member of Beyond Pesticides, [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 25, 2012) In stark contrast with last week’s decision in the midwest, a federal court ruled in favor of halting cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops in all national wildlife refuges in the Southeastern U.S. on Tuesday. The suit, filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Center for Food Safety (CFS), [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 19, 2012) School is a place where children need a healthy body and a clear head in order to learn. Despite a successful trend toward nonchemical strategies, pesticides remain prevalent and are widely used today in universities, schools, and daycare facilities. Kelsey Crain, an undergraduate student at University of Delaware, first became [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 17, 2012) Concerned parents in Durango, Colorado created uproar last week when they discovered a synthetic weed killer containing at least two possible carcinogens would be applied to the athletic fields before Saturday’s games. Though the city enacted the Organically Managed Lands Program last month, the current season’s contracts with pest control [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 16, 2012) The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) is looking to revamp the way it enforces the 1993 Agricultural Water Quality Management Act in order to decrease the amount of pesticides that end up in the state’s waterways from agricultural nonpoint source pollution. The new plan, which was unveiled last December, will [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 15, 2012) California’s Proposition 37, which would require mandatory labeling on genetically engineered (GE) foods, is facing a strong challenge as tens of millions of conventional food industry dollars have poured into television advertisements before the November 6th election. Poll results released Thursday by the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 12, 2012) After reading several cases of pesticide poisonings throughout the state of Utah, State Senator Gene Davis (D-Utah), has announced plans to sponsor legislation that requires notification when nearby homes are being treated with toxic pesticides. Pre-notification is a critical step in the right direction to allow people to avoid unwanted [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 9, 2012) Sewage sludge is big business in Channahon, IL, but many residents who live near fields treated with the fertilizer believe they’re the ones paying the price. Farms in the area began applying the “biosolids” in 2010, and residents say that’s when their health issues began, according to Morris Daily Herald. [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 28, 2012) Over the last few months, heated debate over toxic pesticide use in school buildings and grounds have dominated discussion in Maine. Unfortunately, proposed amendments to Maine’s school pesticide regulations make no mention of safer, preventive pest management practices, or the use of least-toxic pesticides only as a last resort, setting [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 26, 2012) A citizen’s group in Washington State submitted to its county commissioners a petition that urges a ban of all herbicides or other chemicals on county rights-of-way. The group, which opposes all roadside pesticide spraying, is calling for the adoption of safer management alternatives, citing dozens of studies showing cumulative and [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2012) According to a report from New York City’s Department of Health, Roundup, Monsanto’s most popular and widely used product is also the most frequently applied herbicide in the city. This has occurred in violation of the spirit and intent of the 2005-passed the Pesticide Useage Law (Local Law 37), which [...]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 17, 2012) Citizens in rural Oregon are concerned for their health after discovering that several major timber companies –Weyerhaeuser, Roseburg Resources, Stimson Lumber, Seneca Jones and others– have been spraying millions of pounds of herbicides on their private forestland since the 1970s. The pesticides were aerially sprayed after the area had been [...]