Monsanto-Bayer is ending U.S. glyphosate residential sales in 2023. This product was declared "probably carcinogenic" by the World Health Organization in 2015, and various lawsuits against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by various consumer advocates, including the Center for Food Safety (CFS), led to this change. For decades, glyphosate, the key ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, was considered safe because it only affected plants through the shikimate pathway. But bacteria in the human gut also use that pathway. In response to the CFS lawsuit, the EPA "effectively admitted grave errors in its 2020 interim registration of glyphosate, asking the court for permission to re-do the agency's faulty Endangered Species Act assessments." But the agency still wanted Roundup … [Read more...]
EPA Is Ending the Use of the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos On Food
The EPA is ending the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on food, in a final rule that was released August 18, 2021. The decision is a reaction to a court ruling in April 2021 that directed the agency to ban the use of the organophosphate insecticide on food or set new residue levels that are safe for children. If the EPA can't ensure that a pesticide won't hurt children, they must ban it, according to the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act. The final rule revokes all "tolerances" for chlorpyrifos. The agency will also issue a Notice of Intent to Cancel under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to cancel registered food uses of chlorpyrifos associated with the revoked tolerances. EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement, "Today EPA is taking an … [Read more...]
CDC Study: Antibiotics Used as Pesticides Facilitate Antibiotic Resistance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted a study that finds that medically important antibiotics that the EPA wants to re-approve for expanded pesticide use on crops can facilitate antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Those pathogens pose "urgent" and "serious" threats to human health. The results of this study were obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity under the Freedom of Information Act. Those dangerous antibiotic resistant-bacteria include MSA, nightmare bacteria (Cabapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. Those pathogens cause more than 100,000 infections and 13,000 deaths every year in the United States. Nathan Donley, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement, "It’s … [Read more...]
EPA Wants to Spray Antibiotics to Stop Citrus Greening Disease
Advocates from environmental and public health groups have delivered a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency asking them to delay a proposal to spray antibiotic on citrus fields to treat a pathogen that causes citrus greening disease, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. Advocates think that this action could make bacterial antibiotic resistance worse. Citrus greening is a bacterial disease. Florida citrus trees are being destroyed by this pathogen and have been for more than 10 years. The pathogen is spread through an invasive insect. The bugs move through the tree's vascular tissue under the bark. Steven Roach, a senior analyst at Keep Antibiotics Working, said of the plan,"They are doing a huge experiment with limited monitoring." Officials estimate that … [Read more...]
EPA Approves Dow’s Enlist Duo 2,4-D Herbicide
Against many objections from consumer advocates, food safety advocates, and environmentalists, the EPA approved Dow Chemical's Enlist Duo herbicide, a new blend of 2,4-D and glyphosate that will be used on Dow's GMO corn and soybeans. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has been implicated in many diseases, including cancer. And 2,4-D is part of the chemical Agent Orange, used in the Vietnam War, that has sickened and killed many veterans. Dow developed Roundup Ready crops that were resistant to the herbicide. Those plants could be sprayed with Roundup and not be harmed. That use caused an explosion in Roundup resistant weeds. So Dow decided to develop more GMO crops that are resistant to this new herbicide. 2,4-D is linked to reproductive problems, Parkinson's disease, and … [Read more...]
U.S. House Votes to Prevent Clean Water Act Expansion
The U.S. House voted on Monday to approve legislation that would prevent the development of regulations expanding the scope of the federal Clean Water Act. Groups such as the National Pork Producers Council supported this action, stating that the regulations would be detrimental to agriculture. The bill, HR 5078, entitled the "WOTUS Regulatory Overreach Protection Act" was sponsored by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL). WOTUS stands for Waters of the United States. The EPA wanted to expand the Clean Water Act to include the country's water bodies, ditches, and gullies used by farmers for drainage and irrigation. Many farmers support the bill, stating that the EPA's regulations are burdensome. The Clean Water Act is one of the most successful laws in this country. Forty years ago, 2/3 of … [Read more...]
EPA Bans Nano Silver in Food Containers
The EPA has banned nano silver, a pesticide, in food containers. Pathway Investment Corp. of New Jersey has been ordered to stop the sale of plastic food storage containers that have not been tested or registered with the EPA, which is a violation of U.S. pesticides law. The products include Kinetic Go Green Premium Food Storage Containers and Kinetic Smartwist Series containers. They have nano silver as an active ingredient. Other products made by the company contain nano silver, which the company claims reduces the growth of mold, fungus, and bacteria. Those claims can only be made on products that have been tested for safety and registered with the EPA. EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck said in a statement, "claims that mold, fungus, or bacteria are controlled or destroyed … [Read more...]
Consumer Groups Sue EPA for Withdrawing Clean Water Act Rule
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the Center for Food Safety, Environmental Integrity Project, Food & Water Watch, and Iowa Citizens for Community filed a lawsuit last week against the Environmental Protection Agency for withdrawing a rule that would have allowed the government to collect information from factory farms. The rule would have required CAFOs, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, to comply with the protective standards of the Clean Water Act. There are about 20,000 CAFOs in the United States, and they produce three times as much waste as humans. EPA does not require those facilities to meet waste management and treatment requirements, even though the animal waste released into the environment contains pathogens, heavy metals, antibiotics, and … [Read more...]
Government Action on Arsenical Pesticides Delayed
Consumers Union, an arm of Consumer Reports, has called on the EPA to ban arsenic-containing pesticides. A National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC) meeting being held today "will be the start of a process that could delay government action for at least three years on the risks of arsenic," according to the press release. Exposure to inorganic arsenic is linked to cancer. The National Toxicology Program has classified inorganic arsenic compounds as "known to be a human carcinogen." The government is reviewing the cancer and non-cancer risks from inorganic arsenic after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was directed by Congress to stop work on its prior cancer risk assessment after several years of research. Dr. Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist at … [Read more...]
