It began in 2002 with an integrated pest management policy. Now the University of Colorado- Boulder is making its boldest move yet. Frank Bruno, Vice Chancellor for Planning and Administration, announced that it will be phasing out its use of herbicides on campus fields, and instead treating grounds with a more natural "compost tea," a liquid that can be used as both a fertilizer and to prevent plant diseas ...

Nurse practitioners at Planned Parenthood (PP) are used to doling out the usual prenatal advice- stop smoking, limit drinking consumption, and load up on prenatal vitamins. Planned Parenthood (PP) of Salinas, CA, is taking this advice one step further. Because at least 40 of the female patients serviced in this PP location work in pesticide-laden farm fields, staff are now also advising clients to not eat t ...

In another example of how corporate bottom line trumps public health concern, the FMC Corporation- the leading manufacturer of carbofuran- and a group of powerful agribusiness lobbyists including the National Corn Growers Association, challenged, yet again, the ban on the pesticide, despite its reputation for being a deadly poison. In 2006, the EPA announced that all uses of carbofuran should be cancelled b ...

Bed bug populations seemed to disappear around the time of World War II, when DDT nearly wiped them out completely. Nearly. Scientists now theorize that the few who survived developed a resistance to DDT and similar pyrethroid substances that are used in traditional bed bug pesticides. Because of this, the EPA now recommends that homeowners avoid the chemical approach when treating for bed bugs, for fear th ...

In 2007, glyphosate-resistant waterhemp was confirmed in southern Minnesota. It has now spread to west-central Minnesota and continues to increase in frequency due to the continued planting of Monsanto's Round-up Ready crops and exclusive use of glyphosate. http://www.sleepyeyenews.com/news/agriculture/x1739184427/Take-control-of-waterhemp In 2010, glyphosate-resistant giant ragweed was first confirmed on O ...

We're not making this up. In a study at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, researchers found that glyphosate is making it hard for male wolf spiders to sniff out willing mates. Males are also less likely to hook up with a female if she's in a glyphosate-treated field. So is this the one instance in the animal kingdom where the male is actually smarter than the female? We'll leave that open for debate. Read W ...

IN 2009, researchers at UCLA linked Parkinson's Disease (PD) to two chemicals commonly sprayed on crops to fight pests. The study didn't examine farmers, but rather focused on people living near the farm fields where the chemicals maneb and paraquat were sprayed. They found that, for those residents, the risk for PD increased 75%. A follow-up study adds two new twists. Funded by the National Institutes of E ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Doctor, Environmentalists to Talk Lawn Care on June 14 in Potomac, Md. [caption id="attachment_3492" align="alignleft" width="533" caption="Dr. Alan Vinitsky will be among the panelists at the June 14 event in Maryland."][/caption] POTOMAC, MD. — As May turns toward June the dandelions go to seed and the clover begins to flower on lawns across the Chesapeake Bay region. That inevitable ...

Four months after it was due, and under pressure from supporters of the Environmental Working Group, the USDA has released its annual analysis of pesticide residues on fresh fruits and vegetables this week without downplaying any of the findings. With an intense lobbying campaign, the pesticide and produce industry pressured the USDA to minimize the findings of the test results and downplay consumer concern ...

In the first study of its kind, scientists from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Quebec, took samples from dozens of women. Traces of pesticide were found in the blood of 93% of the pregnant mothers and 80% of the umbilical cords. The biotech industry has long argued that toxins ingested directly or through eating animals fed gm-food would be de ...