pesticides

World’s Largest Producer of Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Ends Its Production

World’s Largest Producer of Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Ends Its Production

Corteva, formerly part of the chemical manufacturing giant Dow Chemical, announced today that it would stop making chlorpyrifos — a toxic, brain-harming pesticide commonly sprayed on various U.S. food crops, including apples, oranges, and berries — by the end of the year. The decision by the chemical’s biggest producer, which cited declining sales, marks a […]

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    Acting Now Could Save Bugs From Insect Apocalypse

    Acting Now Could Save Bugs From Insect Apocalypse

    By Ajit Niranjan Seven ‘no-regret’ actions could rescue insects on the road to extinction, a new roadmap for conservation says, helping ecosystems even where a lack of research means scientists cannot prove benefits to individual species. Earth’s biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates but population data on insects — which are small, diverse and abundant […]

    Worst Locust Swarm to Hit East Africa in Decades Linked to Climate Crisis

    Worst Locust Swarm to Hit East Africa in Decades Linked to Climate Crisis

    East Africa is facing its worst locust infestation in decades, and the climate crisis is partly to blame. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said that Ethiopia and Somalia had not seen a swarm this bad in 25 years, while Kenya was facing its largest infestation in 70 years, BBC News reported. “Vulnerable families […]

    Communities in Ecuador Fight Back Against Palm Oil

    Communities in Ecuador Fight Back Against Palm Oil

    By Alejandro Pérez, translated by Romina Castagnino Fifteen years ago, Martha Valencia relied on the nearby river for water and for food. But then oil palm crops arrived in the area and polluted the river, say Martha and her neighbors. The community took the oil palm grower to court, which ultimately resulted in a ruling […]

    There Are 2,000 Untested Chemicals in Packaged Foods — and It’s Legal

    There Are 2,000 Untested Chemicals in Packaged Foods — and It’s Legal

    By Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner A major but largely glossed over report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental and public health nonprofit based in Washington, DC, shows that thousands of untested chemicals (an estimated 2,000, to be exact) are found in conventional packaged foods purchasable in U.S. supermarkets. And yes, all of them are […]

    ​Cuba’s Urban Farming Shows Way to Avoid Hunger​

    ​Cuba’s Urban Farming Shows Way to Avoid Hunger​

    By Paul Brown When countries run short of food, they need to find solutions fast, and one answer can be urban farming. That was the remedy Cuba seized with both hands 30 years ago when it was confronted with the dilemma of an end to its vital food imports. And what worked then for Cuba […]

    Japanese Fisheries Collapsed Due to Pesticides, New Research Says

    Japanese Fisheries Collapsed Due to Pesticides, New Research Says

    Scientists announced today that pesticide use on rice fields led to the collapse of a nearby fishery in Lake Shinji, Japan, according to a new study published in the journal Science. The long-term study seems to have borne out the prophecy of Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book Silent Spring, in which the author describes the […]