Posted April 3, 2020
Bayer AG is reneging on negotiated settlements with several U.S. law firms representing thousands of plaintiffs who claim exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, sources involved in the litigation said on Friday. The reversal comes as U.S. courts are closed to the public because of the spreading coronavirus, eliminating the specter of another Roundup cancer trial in the near future. Read more.
Get Informed on Issues Related to Chemicals
Bayer Settles False Ad Lawsuits
Posted April 3, 2020
Bayer AG agreed to pay $39.5 million to settle allegations that its Monsanto unit ran misleading ads about the controversial Roundup weedkiller and its potential health risks to humans and animals. As part of the deal, language will be removed from Roundup Weed and Grass Killer’s label saying that glyphosate — the product’s active ingredient — only affects an enzyme found in plants. Consumers alleged that the chemical attacks an enzyme found in humans and some animals. Read more.
Revealed: Monsanto Predicted Dicamba Crop System Would Damage US Farms
Posted April 3, 2020
The US agriculture giant Monsanto and the German chemical giant BASF were aware for years that their plan to introduce a new agricultural seed and chemical system would probably lead to damage on many US farms, internal documents seen by the Guardian show. Read more.
USDA Advisory Committee Recommends Suspension of Dicamba Use
Posted March 27, 2020
The USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee has recommended the suspension of dicamba registration to prevent produce crop harm resulting from off-target movement when the herbicide is applied to non-produce row crops. Read more.
PFAS Chemical Producers Under Criminal Investigation
Posted March 27, 2020
It may sometimes look like alphabet soup when scientists begin writing about perfluorinated chemicals, historically abbreviated PFC. Interestingly, the abbreviation PFC refers to two similar, yet distinctly different chemicals: perfluorinated chemicals and perfluorocarbons.1 Perfluorinated chemicals include perfluorocarbons and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, such as PFOA and PFOS. To reduce confusion, the EPA made the move to use “PFAS” to refer to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that describe chemicals in this group, including perfluorocarbons. Read more.
Is Plastic Recycling Just a Big Fraud?
Posted March 27, 2020
As plastic pollution has become a more well-recognized problem, public awareness about the need for recycling has grown as well. The question is whether or not recycling is a viable answer. Growing evidence suggests plastic recycling efforts can have only a minor impact even under the best of circumstances. Read more.
Genetically Engineered Food — the Lie that Won’t Die
Posted March 13, 2020
Promises, promises, promises. The toxic world of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and industrial agriculture is built on false promises. For nearly 30 years we have been listening to the propaganda of the big biotech companies like Monsanto/Bayer, Syngenta, DuPont/Pioneer, BASF and others about how genetic engineering will transform farming and food production. Read more.
How to Make Fabric Softener from Natural Ingredients
Posted March 13, 2020
Fabric softeners are a cocktail of chemicals and fragrances, many of which are known carcinogens (limonene and chloroform, to name a few) and have been known to irritate skin. Detergents nowadays are formulated to clean and soften your fabric, which makes adding storebought softener unnecessary. If you have hard water at home, we have a simple eco-friendly alternative for you: scented vinegar fabric softener. Read more.
Toxic Agriculture and the Gates Foundation
Posted March 6, 2020
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in 2000 and has $46.8 billion in assets (December 2018). It is the largest charitable foundation in the world and distributes more aid for global health than any government. One of the foundation’s stated goals is to globally enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty. Read more.
Dicamba Litigation Against Bayer, BASF Posed to Explode, Lawyers Say
Posted March 6, 2020
Thousands of farmers from multiple states are expected to join mass tort litigation pending in federal court over claims that weed-killing products developed by the former Monsanto Co. and other chemical companies are destroying and contaminating crops, including organic production, a group of lawyers and farmers said on Wednesday. Read more.
