herbicide

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Scientists Found a Magic Bullet for Weeds. Now, 'Big Problems'

Crops now endangered as weeds grow increasingly tolerant of chemicals such as glyphosate

(Newser) - Weeds that were once curtailed by herbicides have quickly adapted to withstand them, raising concerns for farmers who are already seeing lower yields in their crops. Reuters breaks down the issue in a thorough investigation with the scientists, farmers, and herbicide companies involved. Weeds like kochia, waterhemp, and giant ragweed...

'Most of Us Have Glyphosate in Our Urine'
'Most of Us Have
Glyphosate in Our Urine'
study

'Most of Us Have Glyphosate in Our Urine'

New study finds the chemical in 80% of US samples

(Newser) - "People of all ages should be concerned, but I’m particularly concerned for children." So says one scientist interviewed by the Guardian in reaction to a new CDC study that found glyphosate in 80% of US urine samples. The study used 2,310 samples from what was meant...

Couple With Cancer Awarded $2B in Roundup Lawsuit

Bayer faces shareholder revolt

(Newser) - Bayer lost its third Roundup lawsuit in a row Monday, with the jury awarding a couple an amount that dwarfs the verdicts in the previous two. The California jury awarded Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a couple in their 70s who blame the herbicide for their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, $1 billion...

Scientists Make 'Critical' Find on Honeybees, Herbicide

Glyphosate, used in Monsanto's Roundup, may kill off insects' essential gut bacteria

(Newser) - Animals don't seem to be harmed by the world's most widely used weedkiller, but bees apparently don't fall under that protective umbrella. "This is really critical," one entomologist tells Science of a new study showing the digestive system of honeybees (and possibly other bees as...

Weed-Killing Chemical Found in Popular Breakfast Foods

Traces fall below EPA limits

(Newser) - You could be ingesting the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup for breakfast, per a report identifying traces of the chemical glyphosate in Cheerios, Quaker Old Fashioned Oats, and Great Value Instant Oats, plus more products marketed to kids. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group tested 45 oat-based products like granolas...

Monsanto Weed Killer Is Huge, Contentious—and Incentivized

Monsanto offering a big rebate to farmers who use XtendiMax on soybeans in 2018

(Newser) - The crop in question is soybeans, but there's now a big carrot involved. Reuters reports Monsanto is offering what can amount to a more than 50% rebate to farmers who agree to use the herbicide XtendiMax with VaporGrip on their 2018 soybean crop. A rep for Monsanto calls use...

Unexpected Ben & Jerry's Ingredient: Herbicide

Traces of glyphosate found in ice cream samples

(Newser) - Ben & Jerry's: non-GMO , fair trade , made with " caring dairy " and cage-free eggs , concerned with the environment ... and containing herbicide? The popular ice cream brand is under fire after the Organic Consumers Association released Tuesday a list of food brands found to contain traces of glyphosate, the...

California Has Bad News for Signature Monsanto Product

Glyphosate, active ingredient in Roundup, to be added to state's carcinogens list

(Newser) - California's latest environmental and health crackdown has Monsanto in its crosshairs: Reuters reports that as of July 7, glyphosate , the herbicide serving as the main ingredient in the agrochemical company's Roundup weed killer, will take a spot on the Golden State's list of cancer-causing chemicals, per the...

Monsanto Under Fire Over Alleged Risks of Roundup
Monsanto
Under Fire
Over Alleged
Risks of Roundup
RUNDOWN

Monsanto Under Fire Over Alleged Risks of Roundup

But company also got some good news out of Europe

(Newser) - Monsanto has had a big—and mostly bad—week, with lots of headlines revolving around something called glyphosate, the key ingredient in its popular herbicide Roundup. Here's what's happening:
  • On Friday, Monsanto lost a court fight to prevent California from labeling glyphosate a carcinogen, reports the Fresno Bee
...

Judge Rules Against Monsanto in Cancer Lawsuit

Former coffee farmer suing over Roundup herbicide

(Newser) - A former coffee farmer who says Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide caused her cancer scored a win last week when a federal judge rejected the company's request to dismiss the case. Christine Sheppard was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003, seven years after she started using Roundup...

Cancer-Stricken Farmers Sue Monsanto Over Roundup

They allege company is hiding herbicide's dangers

(Newser) - Three cancer-stricken Nebraska farmers and an agronomist are suing Monsanto, alleging that the company misled consumers about the safety of Roundup, the most widely used herbicide around the globe. The World Health Organization labeled glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, as a likely carcinogen last year. The four Nebraskans suing...

Study Debunks Presence of Chemical in Breast Milk

But rival researchers aren't buying WSU's claims

(Newser) - Scientists say a potentially cancer-causing chemical used in Monsanto's popular herbicide Roundup doesn't pose a risk to babies via a mother's breast milk, despite an earlier study claiming that was in fact the case. Washington State University researchers set out to discover whether glyphosate could be found...

Waterways Now Less Crammed With Pesticides

Risk to humans drops, but aquatic life still in danger, especially in city waters

(Newser) - Carbon dioxide levels may be spiking , but there's one environmental irritant that looks to be partially on the decline: pesticides in our nation's waterways. More stringent regulations and the creation of more Earth-friendly products get some of the credit for this backslide, reports the New York Times , citing...

Environmentalists Fear New Biotech Corn

Dow's 'Enlist' resists powerful herbicide

(Newser) - Debate is raging over a new biotech corn engineered by Dow Chemical. The corn, called "Enlist," is intended to solve farmers' struggle against tough weeds; that's because it's resistant to a powerful herbicide, also made by Dow. But environmentalists fear that wind, heat, and humidity would...

Imprelis Herbicide Might Be Killing Trees

DuPont warns landscapers to avoid use in certain areas

(Newser) - Investigators have a suspect in the case of a string of spruce and pine tree deaths across the country—DuPont's Imprelis herbicide. The EPA approved limited sales of the herbicide, thought to be safe for the environment, last fall. However, reports of thousands of dying trees have led the...

US Vets Unveil Agent Orange Dumping Ground in Korea

Deadly defoliant could be wreaking damage on Southern Korean health

(Newser) - Some 33 years after they buried up to 250 rusting 55-gallon barrels stamped "Agent Compound Orange" in a South Korean ditch, three American soldiers are pointing US and South Korean authorities to the location of the dumping ground. Their story has set off a media firestorm in South Korea,...

Prof Attacks Chemical Firm Using ... Hip-Hop Lyrics

Syngenta complains about taunting emails

(Newser) - Chemical company Syngenta has filed an ethics complaint over a Berkeley professor's trash-talking. The company, the world's largest producer of the controversial herbicide artrazine, complains that Tyrone Hayes has sent offensive emails quoting rap lyrics to company execs, Gawker reports. Hayes' research has linked artrazine to cancer in humans and...

Superweeds Start Herbicide Arms Race on Farms

Roundup's strangehold falters in face of new threats

(Newser) - New breeds of “superweeds” are creeping across the Farm Belt, and shaking up the weedkiller and seed industries in the process. The long-dominant Roundup can't deal with immune invaders like pigweed, horseweed, and Johnsgrass, which has given rival chemical companies a chance to bring back old herbicides that Roundup...

Border Patrol Destroys Foliage With Chemicals

Killing plants will cut hiding places for immigrants, smugglers

(Newser) - In an effort to keep smugglers and illegal immigrants from hiding in heavy vegetation as they attempt to cross the Mexican border, the US Border Patrol is looking to Agent Orange for inspiration. One plan for cutting down on possible hiding places on riverbanks is to use an herbicide that...

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop
US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

US Targets Afghan Opium Crop

Karzai reluctant to allow spraying of heroin producing crop

(Newser) - The US is pressing the Afghan government to stem its booming poppy crop with mass spraying following the biggest opium harvests in its history—which accounts for 91% of the world's production. Therein lies much of the resurgent Taliban's revenue, the New York Times reports, but Karzai fears a Taliban-inspired...

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