A report from Reuters on MSNBC is reporting that a recent study out of China found pregnant women exposed to coal smoke and pesticides were up to four times as likely to have babies with serious birth defects than women not exposed. Researchers studied 80 newborn babies and aborted fetuses with brain and spinal cord defects and found their mother's placentas had significantly higher levels of polycyclic aro ...

In Australia, it's rye grass. In Michigan, it's waterhemp. In Georgia, pigweed. Across the country and the globe, farmers are seeing a rise in weeds becoming increasingly resistant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup. Georgina Gustin, of stl today, is reporting that farmers in Missouri have resorted to hiring itinerant workers to pull the weeds, some with stems four inches wide, becau ...

A year after the deaths of 4-year old Rebecca Kay Toone and her 15-month old sister, Rachel Anna Toone, commerical pesticide applicators in Utah are facing tougher rules and increased accountability. The Deseret News is reporting that notices have been sent to the more than 1,000 commercial pesticide companies in Utah and some 4,700 commercial and noncommercial pesticide applicators, mandating that consumer ...

Moments ago the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador announced it would ban all cosmetic applications of pesticides, including those for killing lawn weeds, beginning in 2012. That brings the number of Canadian provinces with similar bans to seven, with British Columbia expected to join the list soon. Here is a link to a local newspaper that pledged to have additional updates on this news througho ...

Toxicity to Trees is Yet Another Side Effect We've noticed a few emails and even more searches of our database about a new toxic chemical weed killer known as Imprelis. Across the United States folks have been equating applications of the new chemical, manufactured by Dupont, with death or unsightly appearance of their pine and spruce trees. Although Dupont originally denounced any claims that its product w ...

The Florida Independent is reporting that fish containing elevated levels of potentially harmful chemicals have been found in two tributaries near downtown Jacksonville. Mercury, PCB's, and arsenic are by-products of coal and are likely the result of nearby industry. They are highly toxic, especially to pregnant women, children, and the elderly. The finding of dieldrin, heptachlor, and chlordane are particu ...

Although marketed as true, clean comfort, the truth is that cotton is one of the world's dirtiest crops, due to its heavy use of insecticides- the most dangerous form of pesticide to human and animal health. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 84 million pounds of pesticides were applied to the nation’s 14.4 million acres of cotton in the year 2000, and more than two billion pounds of fertilize ...

[caption id="attachment_3816" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="Until dry? . . . "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_3818" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="or 24 hours? . . . "][/caption] [caption id="attachment_3820" align="alignleft" width="288" caption="or 72 hours? The same product, 2,4-D, was applied in each case, yet the laws across the United States are terribly ambiguous. "][/caption] Th ...

Today Marks 10th Anniversary of Supreme Court Decision Search on-line on one of those this-day-in-history lists and you won't find my nomination for the MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT'S EVER HAPPENED on the 179th day of the year (not counting leap years). All sorts of other important stuff shares a June 28 anniversary. I didn't know, for example, that Labor Day became a federal holiday by an act of Congress on t ...

Today, California's Department of Pesticide Regulation announced it was awarding grants to two innovative projects meant to educate the public about the dangers of particular pesticides used around homes and schools. “Got Ants? Outreach to Reduce Risks from Pyrethroids to the Environment and Water Quality” aims to protect surface water quality by reducing residential use of pyrethroids- chemical compounds f ...