Tag: pesticides

Pesticides poison nearly half of world’s farmers each year – study

Nearly half of the world’s estimated 934 million farmers suffer unintentional pesticide poisoning each year, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Pesticide Action Network (PAN), analyzed 214 publications from 2006 to 2023 alongside World Health Organization mortality data. It estimated up to 433 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning annually, affecting around 46% of agricultural workers worldwide. About 11,000 cases are fatal each year.

The burden falls disproportionately on the Global South, researchers found.

South and Southeast Asia and eastern Africa recorded the highest estimated numbers of cases. In Burkina Faso, nearly 84% of farmers are estimated to suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year.

“Behind these staggering numbers are farmers, workers and families paying a terrible human price for pesticide exposure,” PAN India Executive Director Jayakumar Chelaton said. “This research exposes a crisis that can no longer be ignored.”

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4 Giant Pesticide Companies Also Control Global Seed Market — That’s Bad for Consumers and Farmers

As the number of seed companies, which are also pesticide companies, consolidates through mergers, farmers face challenges associated with fewer seed choices, higher prices, less diversity and proprietary genetically engineered (GE) organisms.

To combat these problems, a nationwide action has been launched to tell members of the U.S. Congress to cosponsor the Fair Seeds for Farmers Act (H.R. 9681 and S. 5104).

A contributor to the high cost of food, seeds as an input account for up to 25% of farmers’ operating budgets. Four companies, the “Big 4,” control 51% of the global seed market — and they are the same four companies that control 62.3% of the agricultural chemical market — Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta (owned by ChemChina) and BASF.

The top four companies selling genetically modified seeds are the same. This concentration in the industry leads to higher costs and less choice for farmers, and less research into varieties suitable for organic systems.

The Fair Seeds for Farmers Act attempts to reduce these impacts. A 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture report (USDA), “More and Better Choices for Farmers: Promoting Fair Competition and Innovation in Seeds and Other Agricultural Inputs, summarizes many of the problems.”

Farmers in the U.S. have not always needed to buy seed. The federal government — through the Patent Office until 1862 and the USDA thereafter until 1924 — mailed seeds free of charge to farmers throughout the country.

USDA collected seeds (germplasm) from farmers who experimented with varieties to meet regional needs, saved the seeds and shared them. In 1924, responding to pressure from seed companies, the practice ended.

Further support for the commercialization of seed production came from the Plant Patent Act (PPA) of 1930, applying to asexual reproduction of plants (e.g., grafting scions, cuttings, and runners), and the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) of 1970, applying to seeds.

Under the PVPA, plant breeders were granted an exclusive right to propagate and sell their new varieties for 20 years, but those varieties were available to researchers who could use them for breeding new varieties, and farmers could save seeds to replant (and, until 1994, sell).

A number of Supreme Court decisions from 1980 to 2001 resulted in utility patents being issued for seeds and plants. Utility patents (“patents for invention” or “patents”), which can be issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for inventions that are novel, nonobvious and useful, apply to all users and can restrict seed saving, research and breeding.

Thus, patents eliminate resources from the pool of genetics available to plant breeders for improving crops. If breeders are allowed to use patented plants for breeding, they are often subject to restrictive licensing agreements.

Organic farmers can lose certified crops when genes (pollen) drift from GE plants. But they and others are also subject to lawsuits for patent infringement from the large seed/pesticide/biotech companies.

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For Millions of Kids, Back to School Means Back to Pesticide Exposure

The Capistrano Unified School District in southern California has halted the routine use of pesticides and herbicides on its campuses for 60 days as concerns grow over a cluster of rare childhood cancer cases in Orange County.

The district includes Ladera Ranch, where 12 children and young adults have been diagnosed since 2023 with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer that develops in the bones or soft tissue, primarily affecting children.

Many families believe the official count doesn’t capture the extent of the health issues affecting children in the area, according to the New York Post. Other children have had rare illnesses and pets have developed early cancer.

The decision to suspend pesticide spraying comes weeks after hundreds of residents packed a Ladera Ranch community meeting demanding answers about the link to possible pesticide exposure and the children’ s illnesses, local news station KTLA 5 reported.

During the pause, the district will review the products currently approved for use and maintain campus landscapes using preventative management practices and manual weed removal. It is considering a resolution that would establish an annual review of the herbicides and pesticides used in the district’s landscape maintenance program and encourage the use of safer alternatives.

It also plans to provide families with a frequently asked questions document explaining the review process and the policy changes being considered.

The possible link between pesticide use and the cancer cluster in Ladera is shining a national spotlight on the use of pesticides in and around schools as tens of millions of children across the country kick off the school year.

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New Forever Chemicals Coming to US Farms

If the goal is truly to Make America Healthy Again, then the latest decision from the Environmental Protection Agency raises serious questions. According to the article you sent, the EPA has approved two new fluorinated pesticides, diflufenican and epyrifenacil, for use on some of America’s most important crops, including corn, soybeans, and wheat. Neither chemical has previously been approved for use in American agriculture.

Environmental groups argue these compounds qualify as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” under internationally recognized scientific definitions because they can persist in the environment and eventually degrade into trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), an extremely persistent fluorinated compound found in groundwater around the world. The EPA disputes that characterization, maintaining the products do not meet its regulatory definition of PFAS and that they can be used safely according to their labels.

Diflufenican has already become controversial in Europe. Denmark banned its use in part because of concerns that it contributes to TFA contamination of groundwater, while German monitoring has detected TFA in a large percentage of tested wells. Epyrifenacil has reportedly never received approval for agricultural use within the European Union. Whether those regulatory decisions ultimately prove right or wrong, they demonstrate that this is hardly an uncontested scientific issue. Governments around the world are reaching different conclusions about the same chemicals, yet American consumers are expected to assume there is nothing to debate.

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‘Scandalous, irrational and irresponsible’: French beekeepers’ fury at lifting of pesticides ban

Beekeepers and environmentalists in France have reacted furiously after parliament approved a bill reauthorising two banned pesticides scientists say can poison bees.

“There are no words to describe the frustration,” said Carolyn Bouguet, a beekeeper in Essonne, greater Paris. “Bee populations have already been badly compromised by climate change, new parasites and loss of habitat. And now this.”

Henri Clément, a beekeeper in the southern Lozère department and spokesperson for the French beekeeping association, UNAF, said the measure was “an absolute disaster for our sector, and for biodiversity as a whole”.

For bees, the risk was “very high mortality rates and reduced harvests”, Clément told local media. “It’s just incomprehensible these pesticides have been reauthorised. We’ve been fighting them for 30 years. It’s scandalous, irrational and irresponsible.”

The law, passed on Tuesday, allows France’s food and environmental safety agency, Anses, to grant waivers authorising the use of the pesticides acetamiprid and flupyradifurone in struggling farm sectors and under exceptional circumstances.

The use of the pesticides, allowed in the EU but banned in France, will be authorised to combat aphid-borne diseases that can ruin crops of sugar beet, apples, hazelnuts and cherries, which has led producers to claim they can no longer compete with European rivals.

Scientific studies have established that acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid with powerful neurotoxic effects, can poison bees, affecting their foraging capacity and memory. A 2024 study suggested flupyradifurone could be lethal to some honeybees.

Greenpeace France said the country’s centrist government and its rightwing allies in parliament were “trampling on science, health, the environment and the clear will of the people”, describing the legislation as “deeply concerning” and “a disgrace”.

France’s environment minister, Monique Barbut, said the legislation was “one environmental setback too many” and submitted her resignation on Wednesday, but was later persuaded to stay on after meeting President Emmanuel Macron.

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‘Unusual Cluster’ of Rare Child Cancer Cases Triggers Calls for Investigation

Families in Ladera Ranch, California, have experienced a nightmare that they believe could involve toxic chemicals from pesticides.

Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wants the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the matter and determine whether environmental factors explain why so many children in that community have developed rare forms of cancer.

“There has been an unusual cluster of pediatric cancers in the Ladera Ranch community,” Essayli wrote Thursday on the social media platform X.

Essayli asked that the EPA “conduct an appropriate investigation into whether there are any environmental causes, and whether any federal environmental laws are implicated.”

A letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin accompanied the post.

“My office has been made aware of recent reports of multiple pediatric Ewing sarcoma cases within the Ladera Ranch community,” Essayli wrote.

“Residents are raising concerns about a potential cancer cluster and whether environmental factors may warrant further evaluation. At least six children have been diagnosed with this rare bone and soft-tissue cancer, with one 17-year-old, Brody Matteson, dying after complications during treatment.”

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Study: Glyphosate Disrupts Gut Microbiome, May Have Generational Effects

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is the most widely used herbicide globally, according to regulatory and industry data.

Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit watchdog organization, estimates that 300 million pounds of glyphosate are applied annually to U.S. crops, according to NaturalNews.com [2]. Roughly 90% of soy, corn, beets and canola grown in the United States are farmed using glyphosate-resistant crops, meaning the herbicide is sprayed directly on fields where food is grown, according to a recent analysis.

A growing body of research indicates that glyphosate can act as an antimicrobial, disrupting beneficial bacteria in the human gut microbiome. The chemical is designed to block a biochemical pathway in plants, but that same pathway is also present in many gut bacteria, researchers said. “Glyphosate, an antimicrobial chemical used in agriculture, also destroys soil and plant microbes before affecting animals and humans directly or through food consumption,” according to a report from Mercola.com evaluating the microbiome’s role in immune health [3].

Mechanism and Antimicrobial Patent

Glyphosate kills weeds by blocking the shikimate pathway, a biochemical process plants use to synthesize certain essential amino acids. According to Stephanie Seneff’s book “Toxic Legacy,” glyphosate’s mechanism targets the enzyme EPSPS, which is also found in many species of gut bacteria [5]. This blind spot means that while human cells do not use the shikimate pathway, a wide range of beneficial microbes do, including species critical for digestion and immune regulation.

In 2010, Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) was granted a patent for glyphosate as an antimicrobial agent, according to NaturalNews.com [1]. The patent submission, first filed in 2003, describes the compound as a “parasitic control-type antimicrobial agent.” This official classification as an antibiotic means that, like other antimicrobials, glyphosate does not discriminate between harmful microorganisms and the beneficial bacteria the human body depends on, according to the report.

Animal Studies and Systematic Review

Multiple animal studies have demonstrated glyphosate’s ability to alter gut microbiota composition. A mouse study exposed to low doses of glyphosate over 90 days found significant shifts in gut bacteria, with beneficial populations such as Bifidobacterium and butyrate-producing species reduced and bacteria linked to gut dysbiosis and inflammation increased, according to a report on BrightVideos.com [10]. The same report states that glyphosate “disrupts the gut microbiome by killing beneficial bacteria, leading to leaky gut syndrome,” and notes that this disruption increases the risk of autoimmune disorders and endocrine disruption at low doses [10].

A systematic review in the journal Food & Function, analyzing research across multiple animal models, concluded that glyphosate can increase gut permeability (commonly called “leaky gut”), damage the intestinal wall, and disrupt the mucus layer that protects the gut lining, according to researchers cited in the literature. Seneff’s book “Toxic Legacy” also documents extensive evidence linking glyphosate exposure to intestinal inflammation and impairment of the gut barrier in animal models, referencing studies on both rodents and livestock [5].

Prenatal Exposure and Generational Effects

Research on prenatal glyphosate exposure in mice has found disruptions in metabolic, immune, and behavioral markers that persist into the second generation of offspring, according to findings described in the book “The Glyphosate Deception” [8]. The study, published via ScienceDirect, examined doses as low as 0.01 mg/kg/day—more than 100 times below the EPA’s acceptable daily intake. It reported goblet cell depletion, reduced mucin-2 expression (a key component of the gut’s protective mucus layer), and decreased levels of Akkermansia muciniphila, a bacterium closely linked to gut barrier integrity, according to the research.

Additional mouse model research discussed in literature from GreenMedInfo.com found that offspring of exposed mouse dams displayed a striking 45-fold increase in serum levels of 4-ethylphenyl sulfate (4EPS), a metabolite linked to autistic-like behaviors [4]. Probiotic treatment with the species Bacteroides fragilis was shown to ameliorate some of these symptoms, suggesting the gut microbiome plays a central role in mediating the neurological effects of early-life glyphosate exposure, according to the report.

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Five things to know about pesticides, cancer and a pending Supreme Court ruling

After years of lawsuits against agrichemical companies and battles over environmental regulations, the nation’s highest court is expected to rule this summer on a case that could significantly alter the pesticide industry.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule next month on whether lawsuits can be brought against pesticide and herbicide makers over claims their products have caused cancer. 

The court heard arguments in the case in April, and the justices appeared split.

With a ruling weeks away, here are five things to know about the topic of pesticide use and cancer.

1. Geographic correlation between heavy pesticide use and high cancer rates

Numerous studies and an analysis of federal data have shown a potential correlation between pesticide use and cancer. Out of the 500 U.S. counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile (largely concentrated in corn, soybean and fruit-producing states like Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, California and Florida), 60% have cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people. A 2024 study in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society suggests the impact of pesticide use on cancer incidence may rival that of smoking.

2. Thousands of lawsuits have been won against agrichemical companies

State courts have also found that correlation credible, as Bayer, the maker of the herbicide Roundup, has lost thousands of cases and agreed to pay more than $12 billion in settlements, including individual jury verdicts such as an initial $2 billion award in California and a recent $1.25 million verdict in Missouri. According to the company, more than 65,000 lawsuits have been filed by farmers, gardeners and other users alleging the chemical caused their cancer.

3. Companies push for ‘liability shields‘

In response to these lawsuits, agrichemical companies have aggressively lobbied for state-level bans on this type of litigation. Often referred to as “liability shield” laws, they would essentially say that because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not warned of a link to cancer, state-level claims would be void. Georgia and North Dakota are the only two states that have passed these liability shield laws. 

4. The Trump administration has largely sided with pesticide makers

The push for stricter pesticide regulation has created unusual alliances between left-leaning environmentalists and conservative health advocates under the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) banner. 

After an initial Health and Human Services report linked pesticide overuse to childhood health issues, the agency’s final report last year walked back all regulatory calls and instead pivoted to promote public confidence in current EPA standards. President Trump also signed an executive order this year declaring glyphosate critical to national security, and his administration actively sided with Bayer during oral arguments before the Supreme Court.

In April, MAHA activists celebrated a win after the House voted to remove a pesticide industry-backed provision from its farm bill. The debate is expected to continue as the Senate drafts its own version of the farm bill. 

5. Supreme Court hears arguments on national ‘liability shield’ ban

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Monsanto v. Durnell, in which Monsanto (owned by Bayer) argued that because the EPA has ruled glyphosate is unlikely to be carcinogenic, federal law preempts states from requiring cancer warning labels or awarding damages through state juries. A decision is expected in July.

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Legal Notice Filed to Force EPA to Set Water Standards for Atrazine, a Pesticide Linked to Cancer

Conservation and public health groups filed a formal notice on Thursday, May 28, with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to force the agency to develop water-quality standards for atrazine, a pesticide linked to cancer, according to the groups.

According to the notice, atrazine has been found at dangerous levels in thousands of U.S. waterways and in drinking-water supplies. The filing is a required step before the groups can sue the EPA under the Clean Water Act. [1][2]

Atrazine is the second most widely used pesticide in the United States, with tens of millions of pounds applied annually on corn and other crops. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2025 classified atrazine as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to a report from NaturalNews.com. [2] Since 1999, cancer has been the leading cause of premature death in the United States for those under age 85, according to the book “Taking Action, Saving Lives” by Kristin Shrader-Frechette. [3]

The herbicide is banned in more than 60 countries due to links to birth defects, cancers and fertility problems, reported Children’s Health Defense. [4] Atrazine has been shown to disrupt endocrine systems and cause reproductive abnormalities in wildlife, including turning male frogs into hermaphrodites, according to a 2007 report from NaturalNews.com. [5]

The 1972 Clean Water Act regulates discharges into U.S. waterways, but toxic runoff from agriculture continues to pollute, according to a Frontline report cited by Mercola.com. [6] The act requires the EPA to develop water-quality criteria for pollutants; the agency initiated that step in 1999 but never completed it, according to the groups.

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300 Studies Link This Neurotoxic Pesticide to Multi-Organ Damage, Chronic Disease

For decades, regulators viewed chlorpyrifos — a pesticide widely used in the U.S. and around the world — primarily as a neurotoxin that disrupts signaling in the brain and nervous system.

But as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reconsiders whether to continue to allow its use on foods like apples and soybeans, a new review indicates other insidious harms.

Published in April in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, the review synthesizes findings from nearly 300 studies worldwide published up to this year. These include laboratory experiments, animal studies, epidemiological research, regulatory documents and risk assessments.

Growing evidence suggests chlorpyrifos may damage the brain, hormones, liver, gut microbiome, muscles, reproductive organs and bones. Studies also link the pesticide to DNA damage and lasting changes in gene activity that may increase the risk of chronic disease.

Together, the findings portray chlorpyrifos as what the reviewers call a “multi-system toxicant” that poses a more significant threat to public health than previously understood.

It suggests the pesticide acts on the body in ways far beyond disrupted nerve signaling or obvious poisoning. Pregnancy and early childhood are especially sensitive periods for chemical exposure.

“What has genuinely evolved over time is our understanding that chlorpyrifos causes harm in ways that go beyond its effects on the nervous system including damage to DNA, changes in how genes are switched on or off, interference with hormones, and disruption of the healthy bacteria that live in the gut,” said Dana Boyd Barr, Ph.D., a professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and past president of the International Society of Exposure Science.

The authors warn that current regulatory systems may not fully capture the complexity of chlorpyrifos’ dangers to the body. Many occur at levels too low to be detected by current safety testing, which looks for the disruption of an enzyme involved in nerve cell communication.

The review links chlorpyrifos exposure to:

  • Biological changes associated with inflammation, chronic disease and cancer.
  • Brain and nervous system damage, including lower IQ and developmental harms in children, neurodegenerative disease, and disrupted cell growth, survival and communication.
  • DNA damage and altered gene regulation that hinders normal cell repair and changes how genes are switched on and off during development (epigenetics).
  • Hormone disruption involving thyroid, estrogen and testosterone pathways.
  • Liver injury, gut bacteria disruption and metabolic dysfunction are linked to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
  • Reproductive, muscular and skeletal harm, including reduced sperm quality and bone loss.

Industry pushback despite reported harms

The review comes as the EPA reassesses whether the pesticide’s remaining uses meet the statutory standard of “no unreasonable adverse effects.” The action follows years of official stalling, prior bans, policy reversals and legal challenges.

Meanwhile, agrichemical companies are lobbying federal and state lawmakers to shield pesticide manufacturers, including Bayer and its subsidiary Monsanto, from some lawsuits involving Roundup weedkiller. The suits allege their products cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma, among other cancers.

In February 2020, Corteva Agriscience — then the world’s largest producer of chlorpyrifos — announced it would stop production, citing declining demand.

But existing stocks continued to be used. The chemical remains approved for several major crops in the U.S., including apples, strawberries, soybeans, citrus, wheat and peaches.

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