Tag: pesticide
-
USDA Tests Find Unapproved Pesticides on Cilantro
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has reportedly found at least 34 unapproved pesticides on cilantro samples during routine testing. According to the agency’s recently issued 2009 Pesticide Data Program report, 94 percent of the 184 samples tested in a rotating selection of produce came up positive for at least one pesticide. With no definite…
-
Physicians, Scientists Call for More Pesticide Testing on Kids’ Favorite Fruits, Veggies
A group of physicians and scientists has written a letter to federal agencies calling for more pesticide testing on children’s favorite fruits and vegetables. Noting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) typically releases latest data on pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables each January but has yet to do so this year, the May…
-
Study Claims Bt Toxin Found in Human Blood
Canadian researchers have allegedly detected the presence of Cry1Ab toxin in human blood, raising questions about whether “pesticides associated to genetically modified [GM] foods (PAGMF)” break down during digestion as previously claimed. Aziz Aris and Samuel Leblanc, “Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada,” Reproductive…
-
Media Focuses on Neurodevelopmental Disorders Linked to Pesticides, Mercury
“Forty years before it was removed from paint, pediatricians had enough evidence of lead’s ability to maim children’s brains—catastrophically and irreversibly—to warrant discussion in a medical textbook,” opines Sandra Steingraber in the March/April 2011 edition of Orion Magazine, where she posits that not only is the developing brain more vulnerable than the adult brain to…
-
Eleventh Circuit Refuses to Recognize Nicaraguan Court Judgment for Banana Workers
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court ruling finding that a $97 million judgment entered by a Nicaraguan court to compensate 150 Nicaraguan agricultural workers for injuries allegedly caused by workplace exposure to a pesticide is unenforceable under Florida law. Osorio v. Dow Chem. Co., No. 10-11143 (11th Cir., decided March…
-
Cornucopia Institute Complaint Targets Cereal’s “All Natural” Claims
The Cornucopia Institute, a consumer watchdog and proponent of “family-scale farming,” has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that an Oregon-based cereal maker is misleading consumers with its “all natural” product claims. According to the institute, Hearthside Food Solutions, which makes Peace Cereal, labels its products as “natural” and then…
-
Cornucopia Institute Complaint Targets Cereal’s “All Natural” Claims
The Cornucopia Institute, a consumer watchdog and proponent of “family-scale farming,” has reportedly filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging that an Oregon-based cereal maker is misleading consumers with its “all natural” product claims. According to the institute, Hearthside Food Solutions, which makes Peace Cereal, labels its products as “natural” and then…
-
EPA to Declare Prions a Pest Under FIFRA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a proposed rule that would declare a prion a pest under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), thereby requiring products “intended to reduce the infectivity of any prion on inanimate surfaces” to register as pesticide. According to EPA, the proposed rule would codify the agency’s current…