While a study out of Sweden earlier this year reported a link between Type II Diabetes in the elderly and persistent organic pollutants, a more recent study out of Finland appears to have found that POPs cause Type II Diabetes in some people. According to an article published by CBS News, Finn researchers found that the presence of POPs in the body disrupts the endocrine system, which in turn effects the bo ...

As the country awaits the results of the Environmental Protection Agency's second review of atrazine since 2003, its manufacturer- Syngenta- is taking advantage of this feet-dragging process, funding research that exonerates the popular herbicide and submitting it to the EPA. According to Mother Jones Food and Ag blogger, Tom Philpott, the case against atrazine has gotten so strong, the EPA is considering j ...

Early this month, Safelawns reported about the genetically modified crops being grown in our national wildlife refuges, an egregious disregard for the very intent of a "sanctuary". Environmental groups sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and early this year secured a ban against genetically modified crops in northeast refuges. The USFWS failed to extend the ban to other regions, however, so the ...

When James Steidle isn't photographing the landscapes around his British Columbia home, or creating some practical piece of wood art, he's applying his creativity toward another, passionate cause. Founder of the website, Stop The Spray, B.C., Steidle has made it his personal mission to inform people of the damage glyphosate- the active ingredient in Roundup- is causing to the forests of B.C. 1. Your interes ...

In the last decades, the largest reef system in the world has experienced trouble because of climate change, but the BBC is reporting that a new Australian government water quality report indicates the reef is under attack from another source- pesticides. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest structure made from living organisms. The reef supports a wide diversity of ...

Reuters is reporting that a 15-year study of Monsanto's Roundup is linking the herbicide to fungal root disease. According to Bob Kremer, a microbiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup that impacts the root structure of plants, could be causing fungal root disease. As more farmers turn to Roundup Ready corn, soy, and oth ...

In a synopsis published by Environmental Health News, it was reported that a study found a pyrethroid chemical cocktail was more toxic than the effect of each chemical used on its own. Pyrethroids are insectides used on farms and in residential homes to kill mice, insects, and other pests. They are meant to mimic the natural toxins found in chyrsanthemums. Researchers at Creighton University and the U.S. En ...

What happens when genetically modified plants escape fields and start mixing with non-genetically modified, native plants? It seems you get a situation where one plant potentially shares its genetic material with another. New Scientist is reporting that canola weeds have been found in North Dakota containing genetic material that is resistant to both glyphosate, sold as Roundup by Monsanto, and glufosinate, ...

After a number of warnings by extension arborists, professors, and landscapers about damage the broad-leaf herbicide, Imprelis, has wreaked upon evergreen and ornamental trees across the country, the Environmental Protection Agency is prepared to issue a "stop sale" on the product. In June, Safelawns picked up a story by Biocycle, one of the first sources to break the news about the damage Imprelis was caus ...

Behind closed, quarantined doors in Ewing, New Jersey, a small army is being tested. The troops in this army have six legs, and sometimes wings. At the Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Rearing Laboratory, entomologists with the State Department of Agriculture have been busy creating species of insects that would reduce the need for pesticides. Their current project is a pest predator for the Asian stink bug ...