With Brexit comes the potential for the United Kingdom (UK) to negotiate free trade agreements with individual countries. The U.S. and UK have gone through two rounds of negotiations, with the second round completed at the end of June. A major sticking point is around agriculture, including pesticide residues.
The so-called "transparency in science" rule, first proposed by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in 2018, is basically intended to limit EPA's use of scientific studies.
For well over a decade, PAN has worked with partner groups in our key states to test the air for pesticide drift using a device called the Drift Catcher. We launched the latest round of drift-catching in California a little over a year ago, and we’re now reflecting on lessons learned and awaiting results.
A report released in May from a PAN International Swiss partner organization called Public Eye analyzed the sales of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) globally, with a focus on sales by the agrichemical corporation Syngenta. The findings? Syngenta (and other pesticide companies) are making a lot of money selling dangerous pesticides, and low to middle income countries (LMICs) are bearing the brunt of the hazards.
A recent report from UCLA researchers evaluated the role of California county agricultural commissioners (CACs) and their permitting practices for restricted use pesticides. CACs are supposed to evaluate safer alternatives and cumulative exposures of these pesticides, and their power lies in their ability to grant permits to applicators.
A new paper comparing the assessments of glyphosate’s carcinogenicity by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) analyzed the kinds of studies used by both agencies — and found some glaring differences. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Bayer’s (merged with Monsanto) widely used flagship herbicide Roundup.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used to release “Pesticide Industry Sales and Usage” reports every two years — but that was almost 20 years ago. Several months ago, after fielding a question from a colleague, I found the most recent iteration of this report, released at the end of 2017 and covering market estimates from 2008 to 2012.
A new study on glyphosate in pregnant women from Indiana confirms that this widely used herbicide ends up in people’s bodies. The findings also suggest that prenatal glyphosate exposure may be linked to shorter pregnancies.
I try to be optimistic, but the past year hasn't been a great one for science.
The "war on science" you hear people talking about? It's real, and we're already seeing its results. Without input from researchers on the leading edge of science, policymakers are less equipped to make informed decisions — and it's easier for industry lobbyists to get their way.
After much public debate, the European Union (EU) recently determined that it will renew glyphosate for another five years —a shorter renewal than it could have been, but not ideal when what we really wanted was a rejection of the license renewal altogether.
