New Research Links Neonicotinoid Pesticides to Monarch Butterfly Declines

  by Jonathan Latham, PhD USDA researchers have identified the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin as a likely contributor to monarch butterfly declines in North America. The USDA research is published in the journal Science of Nature and was published online on April 3rd (Pecenka and Lundgren 2015). Monarch butterfly populations (Danaus Plexippus) have declined precipitously in […]

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Effects of herbicides, insecticides need eternal scrutiny

  St. Louis Post Dispatch, April 13, 2015 12:00 am Regarding “Monsanto lashes out at cancer agency’s finding on glyphosate” (March 25): Monsanto officials need to review the 1960s controversy over the misuse of DDT before discrediting the misuse of Roundup herbicide by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency of the World […]

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Pesticide ban should be province-wide: Cancer Society

  Municipal pesticides bans not workable, says Jane Farquharson New provincial legislation allowing municipalities to control some cosmetic pesticide use doesn’t go far enough, says the P.E.I. chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society. Executive director Jane Farquharson told CBC News the society is asking the party that forms the next government to implement a province-wide […]

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Pesticides are polluting our waters — and we often don’t know it

  By Puneet Kollipara April 13 Pesticides bring major benefits to modern agriculture, keeping dangerous bugs and fungi and pathogens at bay while boosting yields and making farming more efficient. But what about risks? Like any chemicals — manmade or not — pesticides can be bad for human health and ecosystems if they’re toxic enough […]

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Why There’s More Concern For Farmworkers After Pesticide Cancer Study

by Courtney Flatt Few people come into contact with farm chemicals the way agricultural workers do. That’s why a new health report on a commonly used herbicide is raising special concerns about farmworkers and cancer. For years, researchers have seen glyphosate as one of the least harmful herbicides. It doesn’t cause as many acute poisonings. […]

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Stop Making Us Guinea Pigs

  by Mark Bittman The issues surrounding G.M.O.s — genetically modified organisms — have never been simple. They became more complicated last week when the International Agency for Research on Cancer declared that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used herbicide Roundup, probably causes cancer in humans. Two insecticides, malathion and diazinon, were also […]

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Pesticides Linked to Honeybee Deaths Pose More Risks, European Group Says

By DAVID JOLLY April 8, 2015 | PARIS — An influential European scientific body said on Wednesday that a group of pesticides believed to contribute to mass deaths of honeybees is probably more damaging to ecosystems than previously thought and questioned whether the substances had a place in sustainable agriculture. The finding could have repercussions […]

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Insect spray may lower testosterone levels in men

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2006/01/11/eline/links/20060111elin001.html Reuters January 12, 2006 By Charnicia E. Huggins NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – While infertility may be caused by a number of factors, new study findings suggest that exposure to nonpersistent, or short-lasting, insecticides may play a role in male infertility. “Environmental exposure to chlorpyrifos or its metabolite (TCPY) may be associated with reduced […]

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Pesticides Key Contributor in Childhood Diseases, Highlights Need for Policy Change

(Beyond Pesticides, October 11, 2012) A new report highlights the growing body of research that links pesticides to the rampant rise of learning disabilities, childhood cancer and asthma in the United States, and calls for swift policy change to protect future generations. In particular, the report points out that children are more sick today than […]

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Common Herbicide May Increase Risk of Rare Disorder in Infants

(Beyond Pesticides, October 2, 2012) The herbicide atrazine may be linked to an amplified risk of choanal atresia, a congenital abnormality of the nasal cavity, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other Texas institutions. Choanal atresia is recognized when tissue formed during fetal development blocks an infant’s nasal cavity. Though it is […]

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