[X] CLOSEMAIN MENU

  • Archives

  • Categories

    • air pollution (8)
    • Announcements (610)
    • Antibiotic Resistance (46)
    • Antimicrobial (22)
    • Aquaculture (31)
    • Aquatic Organisms (41)
    • Artificial Intelligence (1)
    • Bats (18)
    • Beneficials (68)
    • biofertilizers (1)
    • Biofuels (6)
    • Biological Control (36)
    • Biomonitoring (40)
    • Biostimulants (1)
    • Birds (28)
    • btomsfiolone (1)
    • Bug Bombs (2)
    • Cannabis (31)
    • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (13)
    • Chemical Mixtures (17)
    • Children (135)
    • Children/Schools (242)
    • cicadas (1)
    • Climate (40)
    • Climate Change (105)
    • Clover (1)
    • compost (8)
    • Congress (25)
    • contamination (166)
    • deethylatrazine (1)
    • diamides (1)
    • Disinfectants & Sanitizers (19)
    • Drift (21)
    • Drinking Water (21)
    • Ecosystem Services (33)
    • Emergency Exemption (3)
    • Environmental Justice (182)
    • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (598)
    • Events (91)
    • Farm Bill (26)
    • Farmworkers (216)
    • Forestry (6)
    • Fracking (4)
    • Fungal Resistance (8)
    • Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) (1)
    • Goats (2)
    • Golf (15)
    • Greenhouse (1)
    • Groundwater (18)
    • Health care (32)
    • Herbicides (56)
    • Holidays (43)
    • Household Use (9)
    • Indigenous People (8)
    • Indoor Air Quality (6)
    • Infectious Disease (4)
    • Integrated and Organic Pest Management (80)
    • Invasive Species (35)
    • Label Claims (51)
    • Lawns/Landscapes (257)
    • Litigation (355)
    • Livestock (13)
    • men’s health (8)
    • metabolic syndrome (3)
    • Metabolites (11)
    • Mexico (1)
    • Microbiata (26)
    • Microbiome (33)
    • molluscicide (1)
    • Nanosilver (2)
    • Nanotechnology (54)
    • National Politics (388)
    • Native Americans (4)
    • Occupational Health (20)
    • Oceans (12)
    • Office of Inspector General (5)
    • perennial crops (1)
    • Pesticide Drift (171)
    • Pesticide Efficacy (13)
    • Pesticide Mixtures (19)
    • Pesticide Residues (198)
    • Pets (37)
    • Plant Incorporated Protectants (3)
    • Plastic (13)
    • Poisoning (22)
    • President-elect Transition (3)
    • Reflection (3)
    • Repellent (4)
    • Resistance (127)
    • Rights-of-Way (1)
    • Rodenticide (36)
    • Seasonal (5)
    • Seeds (8)
    • soil health (37)
    • Superfund (5)
    • synergistic effects (32)
    • Synthetic Pyrethroids (18)
    • Synthetic Turf (3)
    • Take Action (625)
    • Textile/Apparel/Fashion Industry (1)
    • Toxic Waste (12)
    • U.S. Supreme Court (5)
    • Volatile Organic Compounds (1)
    • Women’s Health (37)
    • Wood Preservatives (36)
    • World Health Organization (12)
    • Year in Review (3)
  • Most Viewed Posts

Search Results

Widely Used Fungicide Mixed with Natural Mycotoxins Increases Toxicity of Treated Food Crops

Friday, April 18th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, April 18, 2025) A recent study published in Foods assesses the ability of the fungicide azoxystrobin (AZX) and naturally occurring toxins produced by certain fungi, known as mycotoxins, to display effects of cytotoxicity (cell damage). These effects were evaluated using three common mycotoxins found in food, including ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON), and T-2 toxin as mixtures with AZX within human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell cultures. In analyzing combinations of these compounds at sublethal concentrations, the authors find modified toxicological behavior and synergistic effects that highlight the complexities of chemical mixtures, and potential threats to liver health through dietary exposure to both toxicants and toxins, that are not adequately regulated for their interactions. While fungicides, like azoxystrobin, are intended to prevent or control fungal diseases, resistance to these pesticides can increase the presence of fungi, and subsequent mycotoxins, on crops. This scenario allows for co-exposure of fungicides and mycotoxins within food products that present a risk to consumers. These chemicals can threaten human health individually, as the researchers confirm in their study, but present a greater threat in combination. The mixture of AZX with all three mycotoxins exhibits the highest toxicity, with synergistic effects at all tested concentration levels. […]

Share

Indiscriminate Poisoning of Neonicotinoid Insecticides Contributes to Insect Apocalypse, Study Finds

Tuesday, April 15th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, April 15, 2025) A study in Communications Earth & Environment, through field, greenhouse, and laboratory experiments involving three plant bug species, finds both species-specific and sex-specific sensitivity responses to neonicotinoid insecticide exposure—highlighting the threats to grassland insect communities that are disregarded in risk assessments. By assessing the effects of MospilanÂŽSG, with the active ingredient acetamiprid, the researchers determine that nontarget plant bug species are highly sensitive to neonicotinoids and face community-level harm with exposure. As systemic insecticides, neonicotinoids move through the vascular system of plants, expressing the poison through pollen, nectar, and guttation droplets. As persistent pesticides, these chemicals indiscriminately poison insects and organisms in the soil. “Although pesticides have been proposed as one of the main causes of insect decline, there are still few studies assessing their effects on non-target species under field conditions,” the authors state. They continue: “In this study, we address the existing research gap on insecticide exposure of non-target herbivorous insects, focusing on two main aspects: (1) realistic exposure scenarios, (2) community-level effects, i.e., differential sensitivity between closely related species and between sexes of the same species. We chose plant bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) as a model group because they are one of the […]

Share

As Artificial Intelligence Gains Momentum with Dramatic Promises, Bioethicists Call for Regulation

Friday, April 11th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, April 11, 2025) In a new report by Save our Seeds/Foundation on Future Farming, a consortium of EU-based scientists and bioethicists raise concerns about the implications and threats of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) for genetic engineering. Artificial intelligence will impact all aspects of society, including the acceleration of genetic editing tools that may lead to increased risks of harmful traits/genetic data being incorporated into products on the global marketplace. Organic farmers, conservationists, and public health professionals who collaborate with Beyond Pesticides grow increasingly concerned about the long-term impacts of deregulation and ongoing federal funding freezes and firings on needed regulatory oversight of the tech sector, including AI. Review of Save our Seeds Report So, what is artificial intelligence (AI)? AI is a broad field that focuses on building machines and systems that can think, learn, and solve problems—incorporating elements of human behavior. It powers things like voice assistants, self-driving cars, and recommendation systems on apps like Netflix or Spotify. In short, AI is designed to understand information, make decisions, and complete tasks intelligently. Generative AI, however, is an extension of AI focused on creativity. The main goal is to generate new content—whether in writing, photography, video, music, or […]

Share

Research Finds Triazole Fungicides Induce Cardiotoxicity, Threatening Cardiovascular Health

Tuesday, March 25th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, March 25, 2025) An editorial in Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy finds that triazole fungicides pose a significant risk of cardiotoxicity with “growing concerns regarding their safety for human health, especially in long-term exposure,” the authors share. After analyzing the known mechanisms of cardiotoxicity of triazole pesticides in mammals, they conclude that “the most effective approach to mitigating triazole-induced cardiotoxicity lies in prevention.”  Triazoles, a class of fungicides, target fungi by inhibiting the biosynthesis of ergosterol, an essential component of their cell membranes. As the researchers share, “Compounds such as tebuconazole, propiconazole, and difenoconazole are among the most used triazoles in agriculture.” Triazoles are utilized as antifungal medications, despite the rise of resistant infections, in addition to their use as systemic pesticides on many fruit and vegetable crops, including grapes, wheat, corn, and soybeans.   As Beyond Pesticides’ previous coverage indicates, many triazole fungicides in the U.S. are registered for use despite evidence of endocrine disruption established over a decade ago in a U.S. Geological Survey report. These pesticides exhibit common mechanisms of toxicity often disregarded in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk assessments, with a multitude of studies showcasing the myriads of health threats that the agency does […]

Share

Mexico Rejects U.S. Forcing Genetically Engineered Corn on Country under Trade Agreement

Friday, March 21st, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, March 21, 2025) Sin maĂ­z, no hay paĂ­s – “Without corn, there is no country” (Mexican saying) In the face of U.S. efforts to require Mexico, under a trade agreement, to import genetically engineered corn, last week the Mexican legislature approved a constitutional amendment identifying native corn as “an element of national identity” and banning the planting of GE seeds. This brings to a head a clash over issues of food sovereignty and security, genetic integrity, health protection, and environmental safety. In 2020, the Mexican government committed to phasing out the importation of genetically engineered (GE) corn by 2024. Mexico had also planned to ban by April 1, 2025, the weed killer glyphosate, integral to GE corn production—but recently delayed its decision. These actions by Mexico triggered vigorous pushback by the U.S., resulting in the formation of a panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to decide which country was in the right. The USMCA, negotiated in 2018 during President Trump’s first term, replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement. Under USMCA, parties can adopt measures to protect human animal or plant life or health. However, in December 2024, the USMCA panel ruled in favor of the U.S., rejecting […]

Share

Kenya Court Rules Against GMO Corn Imports, Major Win for Food Sovereignty

Wednesday, March 19th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, March 19, 2025) In a major win for small-scale food producers and peasant farmers in Kenya, “the Kenya Court of Appeal blocked the Kenyan government from importing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the country[,]” according to a press release by Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)—an alliance of organizations and movements across the continent advocating for agroecology and food sovereignty.  “We celebrate this ruling as a major victory for small-scale farmers across Kenya,” said David Otieno, a small-scale farmer and member of the Kenyan Peasants League, a social movement consisting of consumers, farmers, pastoralists, and fishers rallying against the multinational corporate takeover of food systems in Kenya. Mr. Otieno continued: “GMOs are not the solution to food insecurity in our country. Instead, they deepen dependency on multinational agribusinesses, threaten biodiversity, and compromise farmers’ ability to control their food systems.” Genetically engineered seeds are designed to be resistant to commonly used pesticides, including the weedkiller glyphosate, which locks farmers into dependence on multinational corporations rather than their own ability to practice seed saving and enhance their food sovereignty. This battle for control over the ownership of land and seeds in Kenya resonates with the growing movement of consumers, […]

Share

Celebrating the Life of Joan Dye Gussow, Champion of Local, Organic Food Systems

Friday, March 14th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, March 14, 2025) Beyond Pesticides celebrates the life and legacy of Joan Dye Gussow, EdD, a leader in the organic and local food movements for decades. Dr. Gussow passed away at 96 years young on Friday, March 6, at her home in Rockland County, New York. As the matriarch of the “eat locally, think globally” movement (New York Times), Dr. Gussow embodied what it means to practice what you preach with decades of experience in pesticide-free, regenerative organic gardening, where she grew seasonal produce for her own consumption. In her book, The Feeding Web, Gussow explains why gardening matters: “Food comes from the land. We have forgotten that. If we do not learn it again, we will die….Are we not, in fact, more helpless than any people before us, less able to fend for ourselves, more cut off from sources of nourishment? What would we do if we could not get to the supermarket?” Dr. Gussow represents the values of community- and people-first organic principles in food and land management systems. By 1971, the year after she published her first book on the relationship between nutrition and children’s performance in school, Dr. Gussow was invited to testify before […]

Share

Bill in Washington State Raises the Importance of Public Support for Transitioning to Organic

Wednesday, March 5th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, March 5, 2025) Legislation in the state of Washington (Senate Bill 5474) is moving forward to establish a first-in-the-nation Organic Action Plan to “expand opportunities for organic, regenerative, climate-smart, and sustainable producers.” If passed, this bill would build on California’s trailblazer status as a leader in cultivating the expansion of the organic marketplace. Advocates hope that in developing the Plan, Washington will follow in the footsteps of California and European Union by setting targets for total cropland under certified organic management and bridge the gap between climate, public health, and biodiversity. As federal funding cutbacks continue to impact farmers’ ability to leverage resources and grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic and transitional farmers are eager to see states like Washington take responsibility and improve the financial viability of farmers. Mike Stranz, vice president of advocacy at National Farmers Union, spoke to Brownfield Ag News when visiting the Wisconsin Farmers Union town hall meeting on February 21 echoing these concerns, saying, “A lot of conservation and climate initiatives, a lot of local foods initiatives and programs, dollars for those were halted and cut short even as farmers and ranchers were making improvements or holding up their […]

Share

Microplastics Interact with Pesticides, Exacerbating Environmental Health Threats, Studies Find

Tuesday, February 25th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 25, 2025) A literature review of over 90 scientific articles in Agriculture documents microplastics’ (MPs) increase in the bioavailability, persistence, and toxicity of pesticides used in agriculture. The interactions between MPs and pesticides enhance the threat of pesticide exposure to nontarget organisms, perpetuates the cycle of toxic chemical use, and decreases soil health that is vital for productivity. “The increasing presence of MPs in agricultural ecosystems has raised concerns about their impact on pesticide bioavailability, efficacy, and environmental behavior,” says study author Kuok Ho Daniel Tang, PhD, a global professor in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona. He continues, “These synthetic particles interact with pesticides through adsorption and desorption processes, altering their distribution, persistence, toxicity, and uptake by plants and other organisms.” Microplastics in the Environment As Beyond Pesticides has previously reported, microplastics are ubiquitous and threaten not only human health but all wildlife in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The universal distribution of plastics means that they cannot be avoided. Humans and other organisms take up plastics in the form of microparticles and nanoparticles by inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact every day. Microplastics are about the width of a human hair; nanoplastics […]

Share

Trump Administration’s Dismantling of Federal Environmental and Public Health Programs Shifts Focus to States

Monday, February 24th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 24, 2025) The sweeping firing of federal workers, including an estimated 200,000 probationary employees (under one to two years of employment), will have a broad impact on programs to protect health and safety as well as the environment, leaving a critical need for local and state government to fill some of the gaps in critical programs, where possible. A headline in Science magazine warns, “Mass firings decimate U.S. science agencies,” and the dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University told Oregon Public Broadcasting, “We’ve lost half of our teams, and all of these up-and-coming young scientists. . .so it’s like we’ve lost the next generation of scientists in agriculture and natural resources.” The same applies to important positions across the federal government, affecting every aspect of work necessary to protect public health and biodiversity and address the climate crisis. In response to President Trump’s executive orders and actions, there has been, as The New York Times reports, “new lawsuits and fresh rulings emerging day and night,” raising what experts fear may become a constitutional crisis. With the upheaval in the federal government, attention turns to the importance of state and local policies and […]

Share

Exposure to Glyphosate Herbicide Adversely Affects Perinatal Health, Study Finds

Thursday, February 20th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2025) Researchers at the University of Oregon found that the rollout of genetically engineered corn in the early 2000s, followed by exponential increases in glyphosate-based herbicides, “caused previously undocumented and unequal health costs for rural U.S. communities over the last 20 years.” Their results “suggest the introduction of GM [genetically modified] seeds and glyphosate significantly reduced average birthweight and gestational length.” The conclusions of this study emerge as fossil fuel advocates, including President Donald Trump, are mobilizing to pioneer “energy dominance” despite the market movement toward renewable energy. Just as chemical-intensive farmers and land managers continue to spray synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, a successful rollout of alternatives must rely on feeding the soil rather than the plant. Advocates continue to demand that elected officials and regulators embody the precautionary principle and scientific integrity in decision-making. Given the hostile federal climate on anything relating to holistic solutions, communities are coming together to move beyond input-dependent land management systems and adopt organic criteria of allowed and prohibited substances, mandatory public comment process, independent third-party certification, and a federal advisory board (National Organic Standards Board) consisting of farmers, environmentalists, consumers, scientists, economists, researchers, and other stakeholders, with binding recommendations […]

Share

State Bill Supports Organic Transition as Trump Administration Ignores Mounting Crises

Tuesday, February 18th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 18, 2025) With petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers linked to the climate crisis and extraordinary threats to health and biodiversity, recent actions by the Trump administration are highlighting the critical importance of local and state action to mitigate the hazards. On this point, the headline of a National Public Radio article published last week says, ”Trump funding freeze could leave communities on their own as climate threats grow.” Previously, President Trump as a candidate called climate change a “hoax” and has targeted “‘every one’ of President Biden’s policies designed to transition the United States away from fossil fuels,” according to The New York Times. The Guardian reported last October after Hurricane Helene, “As the hurricane continued to ravage the region over the weekend, the former president dismissed global warming in a Saturday speech, and the following day referred to the climate crisis as “one of the great scams of all time.” When considering the historic Palisade fires that began in January in southern California, according to The Guardian, John Abatzoglou, a climatologist at the University of California, Merced, said, “Climate change is adding fuel to the fire and it is absolutely outpacing our ability to adapt in certain areas.” With the apparent absence of federal programs to […]

Share

California Weakly Defines Regenerative, Misses Chance for Meaningful Progress

Thursday, February 13th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2025) After months of deliberations and a public comment period, the California State Board of Food and Agriculture (SBFA) on January 10, 2025, formalized a definition of “regenerative agriculture” that is being widely criticized as undermining the transition of agriculture to certified organic practices that eliminate petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers. The call for the urgent and widespread adoption of organic land management is advanced by those who see organic practices—with its focus on soil health management, a national list of allowed and prohibited substances, an enforcement system, and a prohibition on genetically engineered seeds and plants, synthetic fertility and biosolids—as the only way to effectively address the current health, biodiversity, and climate crises. Nonetheless, the Board’s recommendation, accepted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), loosely defines regenerative agriculture as “an integrated approach to farming and ranching rooted in principles of soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem resiliency.” The  15-member SBFA advisory board, appointed by the governor, unanimously finalized a recommendation formally defining “regenerative agriculture,” concluding two years’ worth of workgroups and stakeholder engagement. The proposal, addressed to Secretary Karen Ross, fulfills a Board project outlined in California’s Ag Vision for the Next Decade. It […]

Share

New York Bill Highlights Significance of Tax Incentives for Organic Transition

Wednesday, February 12th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 12, 2025) New York state Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick (R-NY) introduced a bill (S1306) that would exempt farmland that is in transition to certified organic practices from real property tax for up to a three-year period. This bill was reintroduced in the state legislature at a time when many federal organic programs remain unfunded amid stalled Farm Bill negotiations (see here for previous Action of the Week calling on Congress to fund federal organic programs) and farmers continue to struggle with the cost of certification, paperwork, and access to land. The legislation recognizes the importance of supporting and incentivizing organic as a common good that protects health and the environment and saves taxpayer costs associated with, Externalities of chemical-intensive farming, from costs associated with fires, floods, and severe weather; Daily health and cleanup expenses associated with contamination of air, land, and water; and  Crop and productivity losses and depressed ecosystem services (including loss of pollinators). The public is looking for opportunities to push forward holistic policies as executive orders suspend diversity, equity, and inclusion in federal agency staffing and programming, as well as the shuttering of government websites and databases mentioning climate change or environmental justice. As Beyond […]

Share

Revealing “Dirty Weed”: Pesticides in Cannabis Raises Health Concerns, as Advocates Advance Organic Solution

Thursday, February 6th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 6, 2025) Months after publishing a June 2024 study regarding concentrations of pesticides discovered in legal (and illegal) cannabis products in California, the Los Angeles Times has released a follow-up exposĂŠ highlighting extensive pesticide contamination, including from “hidden” pesticides that regulators have not monitored. The authors conclude that in California’s legal weed market, over half of available smoking products are found to contain hidden chemicals—toxic pesticides present in products but not regulated or monitored by state authorities. Since 2015, Beyond Pesticides has laid out health, safety, and environmental concerns related to the contamination of cannabis by pesticides (and fertilizers) alongside an imperative need to mandate an organic systems approach to cannabis production. Yet ten years later, it appears nationally that California state regulators are alone in moving forward in 2021 with state organic cannabis certification. There are other marketplace-based cannabis certification labels that require comparable organic certification practices (see Beyond Pesticides reporting here and here). For more information, please see past Pesticides and You reporting here and here. The Los Angeles Times analyzed the results from state licensed laboratory testing of more than 370 legal cannabis products, representing 86 brands. In addition to the 66 chemicals required […]

Share

Neonic Insecticide Impairs/Kills Beetle Listed as Threatened and Important to Ecosystem Health, But Not Protected

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, February 5, 2025) A study in PLOS One finds acute and chronic impacts of nontarget toxicity on the American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, with neonicotinoid insecticide exposure. In assessing environmentally relevant concentrations of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid with N. americanus, the researchers note both mortality and behavioral effects that leave the species at high risk of predation. These effects mean the American burying beetle “may be at greater risk to insecticide exposure than previously thought and vulnerable to episodic, low-dose neonicotinoid exposure,” the authors say. This data sheds important light on a species that has been listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as threatened. Burying beetles provide important ecosystem services within the environment such as “burying carrion, increasing available nutrients in soil, and expediting carrion decomposition, while acting as a food source for secondary consumers,” the researchers state. (See more on ecosystem services and beneficial insects here, here, and here.) The N. americanus species are habitat generalists and can be found in grasslands, wet meadows, and forested areas that neighbor agricultural lands and introduce the beetles to pesticide drift and soil residues. While acute and chronic effects vary in duration and severity, pesticide exposure resulting […]

Share

Study Finds Pesticide Exposure to Bees During Dormancy or Overwintering Disruptive of Reproductive Health

Thursday, January 30th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 30, 2025) A research article in Biology Letters, published by The Royal Society, finds that the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid disrupts survival and reproductive patterns in Bombus impatiens bumblebees. The study adds to the wide body of science highlighting how exposure to pesticides “can result in immediate mortality or cause long-term detrimental effects on pollinators‘ health, lifespan and reproductive success,” the authors state. The researchers performed two experiments to assess the effects of various concentrations of imidacloprid, one of which focuses on bees during diapause, a period of dormancy. “Wild bees, which provide the majority of pollination services worldwide, undergo an annual life cycle that includes a winter diapause, that can span over 75% of their life cycle and during which their metabolism, growth and development are halted,” the authors note. They continue: “The time spent in diapause can have lasting effects on pollinator fitness and their ability to establish nests or colonies in the following spring. This period is especially critical for social bee colonies, which are founded by a single queen after diapause and play a vital role in large-scale pollination.” Exposure to pesticides during diapause can occur while bee species overwinter in contaminated soils. In […]

Share

Beyond Pesticides Calls on EPA To Ensure Comprehensive Review of “Biopesticides”

Tuesday, January 28th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 28, 2025) Beyond Pesticides is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to move more cautiously in  its proposal for “streamlined . . . registration review decisions for several biopesticides,” subject to a public comment period through February 10, 2025. The organization is raising EPA review process concerns. The organization states: “Although the biopesticides listed in EPA’s proposal for streamlining the registration review process for ‘low risk biopesticides’ can be considered relatively low risk compared to conventional pesticides, the precedent for relying on the original or previous registration data and review is troublesome. EPA’s rationale for registration review—that ‘science is constantly evolving, and new scientific information can come to light at any time and change our understanding of potential effects from pesticides,’ should guide the agency in its decisions—especially when previous decisions have depended on limited actual data, data waiver request rationales, and purported absence of new data or adverse incidents reported.”  While Beyond Pesticides advocates for allowance of pesticides compatible with organic standards that are protective of human health, biodiversity, and healthy ecosystems, it urges EPA to establish rigorous standards in its registration review of these materials. The issue of biopesticide review is made complicated by the […]

Share

Waterway Contamination Findings with Neonicotinoid Insecticide a Threat to Aquatic Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Friday, January 24th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 24, 2025) Based on data collected from government sources and independent monitoring, a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Connecticut finds that 46% of Connecticut waterway samples are contaminated with levels of the neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid—one of the most widely used insecticides in the United States on lawn and golf courses. The authors relied on federal data from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), state-level data from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP), and a small-scale data collection study by the Clean Rivers Project funded by the nonprofit Pollinator Pathway, Inc. In their report, Neonicotinoids in Connecticut Waters: Surface Water, Groundwater, and Threats to Aquatic Ecosystems, the researchers provide the most comprehensive view to date of neonicotinoid levels in Connecticut and offer critical recommendations for future testing within the state and nationally, given glaring data gaps. It is important to note that the authors acknowledged early in the report the “abandonment” of Integrated Pest Management in “the use of neonicotinoids has coincided with and been implicated in the decline of many non-target species of insects, in particular pollinators such as bees () and monarch butterflies.” They point out that […]

Share

Public Urged To Tell EPA That It Is Time To Stop Killing Biodiversity with the Weed Killer Atrazine

Monday, January 13th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 13, 2025) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is officially taking comments on whether to issue new restrictions on the herbicide atrazine’s use. Beyond Pesticides is telling the agency that it is time to recognize the biodiversity destruction that atrazine is causing and the viability of alternative organic management practices. The group has released an action and is asking the public to join this campaign to ban atrazine. As a yardstick for what is possible under existing federal pesticide law (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act), EPA on August 7, 2024 announced that it was taking emergency action to ban the weed killer Dacthal (or DCPA–dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate), leaving many people asking, “Why Dacthal and not other very hazardous pesticides?” The weed killer atrazine (in the triazine chemical family) poses similar elevated hazards to people and the environment, has proven to be impossible to contain, and has viable alternatives. Therefore, we need to challenge EPA to apply the same standard that removed Dacthal from the market to the long list of pesticides that are contributing to a health crisis, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency.  In its current proposal, EPA is choosing to downplay atrazine’s risk to ecosystems, allow more contamination with […]

Share

Multiple Studies Link Adverse Effects on Female Reproductive Health with Endocrine Disrupting Chemical Exposure

Thursday, January 9th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2025) In a Frontiers in Public Health review article, researchers report on the wide body of science connecting adverse effects to female reproductive system, such as infertility, with exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The authors call these effects a significant concern for public health, as there has been growing evidence of EDCs with risk factors for decreased fertility.   Infertility “affects a substantial proportion of the world’s population with approximately one in six people affected,” the researchers note. They continue: “Over the last 70 years, global fertility has been constantly in decline due to behavioral and societal changes… [E]merging evidence has shown that infertility incidence is linked to exposure to environmental factors such as tobacco, alcohol, and a wide range of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) including pesticides (chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT] and methoxychlor), phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), dioxins, and bisphenols.”  In this review, over 100 studies are summarized to showcase the link between EDC exposure and reproductive effects in women, including infertility and related diseases such as endometriosis, premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), and endocrine axis dysregulation. The studies included investigating the “mechanisms by which EDCs cause ovarian aging, folliculogenesis, decrease of oocyte quality, ovulation disorders, development and receptivity […]

Share

Federal Court Reverses Genetically Engineered Crop Deregulation Adopted by First Trump Administration

Wednesday, January 8th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2025) On the brink of the second Trump administration, a legal victory just last month overturned a rule issued under the first Trump administration to “practically eliminate oversight of novel GE technology and instead let industry self-regulate,” as characterized by the Center for Food Safety (CFS). CFS served as counsel in the case for the plaintiffs, led by the National Family Farm Coalition. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California decision, responding to the lawsuit filed in 2021 on behalf of farm and environmental groups, remanded the case back to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) with instructions to follow. “This is a critical victory on behalf of farmers, the planet, and scientific integrity,” says George Kimbrell, legal director at the Center for Food Safety, also a plaintiff in the case. Mr. Kimbrell continued, “USDA tried to hand over its job to Monsanto and the pesticide industry and the Court held that capitulation contrary to both law and science.” It remains to be seen whether the incoming Trump administration will appeal this court decision. Unpacking The Center for Food Safety Litigation This legal battle began in 2004 with the Animal and Plant Health […]

Share

Report Links Biodiversity, Water, Food, and Health In Critique To Avert Escalating Crises

Tuesday, January 7th, 2025

(Beyond Pesticides, January 7, 2025) A report, released in December 2024 from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), confronts the problem of “siloing” environmental elements—food, health, water, biodiversity and climate change—when they instead intersect at a nexus from which each element affects all the others. The problem is essentially that all the elements are part of the same crisis, yet actions to address issues within each—and, importantly, to resist addressing them—are dealt with in isolation. A proper perspective, gleaned from the report, is to view each element from the center where all parts meet, thus addressing the issues in coordination. According to the IPBES report, “[F]ragmented governance of biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change with different institutions and actors often working on disconnected and siloed policy agendas, resulting in conflicting objectives and duplication of efforts.” The IPBES is an independent body analogous to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) but structured similarly and in close contact with the United Nations (UN). The new report comes at the behest of IPBES’s 147 member countries—75 percent of the UN’s membership—to address the interconnections among the five global crises. The report strongly demonstrates that a holistic, globe-spanning frame […]

Share