pesticides

How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails

How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved nearly 100 pesticide products over the past six years that contain mixtures that make them more poisonous and increase the dangers to imperiled pollinators and rare plants, according to an investigation by the Center for Biological Diversity. These “synergistic” combinations have been widely overlooked by the EPA […]

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    Organic Farmer Taken to Court for Refusing to Spray Pesticides

    Organic Farmer Taken to Court for Refusing to Spray Pesticides

    The French agriculture ministry is prosecuting Emmanuel Giboulot, an organic winemaker, for failing to apply insecticide to his vines. The ministry wants insecticide to be sprayed to control the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus—believed to be responsible for the spread of the grapevine disease—but Giboulot believes the pesticide is ineffective and damaging to pollinating insects such as bees, […]

    Pesticide Exposure Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease

    Pesticide Exposure Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease

    By Robin Lally Scientists have known for more than 40 years that the synthetic pesticide DDT is harmful to bird habitats and a threat to the environment. Now researchers at Rutgers University say exposure to DDT—banned in the U.S. since 1972 but still used as a pesticide in other countries—may also increase the risk and […]

    Pesticides to Blame for UK’s Declining Turtle Dove Population

    Pesticides to Blame for UK’s Declining Turtle Dove Population

    Unless regulators take action, one of the gifts in the lyrics to “Twelve Days of Christmas,” the turtle dove, may become extinct. The dove has experienced major population decline in England over the past 20 years, due in significant part to the destruction of turtle dove habitat and food sources from increasing herbicide use in English agriculture. The number of […]

    House Legislation Proposed to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

    House Legislation Proposed to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

    Beyond Pesticides Capitol Hill is buzzing about a new bill that aims to provide long overdue protections for America’s imperiled pollinators. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) will be introducing the Save America’s Pollinators Act, calling for the suspension of neonicotinoids, a class of systemic pesticides that are killing bees. Photo courtesy […]

    Americans Unite to Sue EPA Demanding Protection of Bees

    Americans Unite to Sue EPA Demanding Protection of Bees

    By Laura Beans Last week, the beekeeping industry filed legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approving a new bee-harming pesticide.  According to Beyond Pesticides, the petitioners—including the National Pollinator Defense Fund, American Honey Producers Association, National Honey Bee Advisory Board, the American Beekeeping Federation, and beekeepers Bret Adee, Jeff Anderson and […]

    Worldwide Honey Bee Collapse: A Lesson in Ecology

    Worldwide Honey Bee Collapse: A Lesson in Ecology

    Greenpeace By Rex Weyler We know what is killing the bees. Worldwide Bee Colony Collapse is not as big a mystery as the chemical companies claim. The systemic nature of the problem makes it complex, but not impenetrable. Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors—pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutrition deficit, air […]

    Arsenic in Organic Foods Reveals a Wider Problem for All Food Production

    Arsenic in Organic Foods Reveals a Wider Problem for All Food Production

    Organic Trade Association A recently published study by researchers at Dartmouth College has called into question the presence of arsenic in some organic products. While the study itself focused on infant formula, health bars and high energy foods, the resulting interpretation of the findings failed to address the arsenic issue as a serious concern for […]