herbicide

A jury in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday concluded that Roundup weed killer was a substantial factor in a California man's cancer. The company denies the connection.

California Jury Finds Roundup Caused Man's Cancer

9:09pm March 19, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

After five days of deliberation the jury concluded the weed killer was a "substantial factor" in causing non-Hodgkins lymphoma in the plaintiff. It's the second verdict against the Bayer product.

Arkansas farmer David Wildy inspects a field of soybeans that were damaged by dicamba in 2017.

The EPA Says Farmers Can Keep Using Weedkiller Blamed For Vast Crop Damage

2:08pm November 01, 2018

by Dan Charles

The Environmental Protection Agency has given farmers the OK to continue to spray the controversial weedkiller dicamba. The chemical is prone to blowing in the wind and damaging other vegetation.

A new study from the University of Texas at Austin suggests that bees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts and are more susceptible to infection and death.

Study: Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths

8:06pm September 25, 2018

by Vanessa Romo

Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin posit that glyphosate destroys specialized gut bacteria in bees, leaving them more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

The vines at Pheasant Ridge Winery near Lubbock, Texas, were devastated by drift from the herbicide 2,4-D in 2016.

West Texas Vineyards Blasted By Herbicide Drift From Nearby Cotton Fields

7:01am August 21, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

Texas is one of the largest producers of wine in the U.S. But the grapevines in the High Plains are facing a threat that's causing them to twist and wither. And it's coming from the cotton fields.

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Ray Vester served on the Arkansas State Plant Board for 18 years. "It's self-governing, by the people, for the people," he says.

These Citizen-Regulators In Arkansas Defied Monsanto. Now They're Under Attack

3:10pm February 14, 2018

by Dan Charles

In Arkansas, a regulatory committee of farmers and small-business owners banned the latest weed-killing technology from the giant agrichemical company. Monsanto is taking them to court.

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These soybean leaves show evidence of damage from dicamba. It could cut the the harvest by 10 to 30 percent.

Crime In The Fields: How Monsanto And Scofflaw Farmers Hurt Soybeans In Arkansas

4:24pm August 01, 2016

by Dan Charles

A new type of genetically engineered crop is tempting farmers to use a weedkiller illegally. The illicit chemical use has damaged nearby crops and provoked conflict among neighbors.

Soybeans are sprayed in Iowa in 2013. Enlist Duo is a mixture of two chemicals that farmers have used separately for many years: glyphosate (also known as Roundup) and 2,4-D. The new formulation is intended to work hand-in-hand with a new generation of co

Busted: EPA Discovers Dow Weedkiller Claim, Wants It Off The Market

4:10pm November 25, 2015

by Dan Charles

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to withdraw approval of a controversial herbicide made by Dow AgroSciences. The firm made conflicting claims to EPA and the Patent Office about the product.

A bottle of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide in a gardening store in Lille, France. A group convened by the European Food Safety Agency reviewed the available scientific data on the chemical, also known as glyphosate, and concluded that it probably does not c

European Cancer Experts Don't Agree On How Risky Roundup Is

2:37pm November 13, 2015

by Dan Charles

Glyphosate, or Roundup, is a widely used weedkiller and has been classified as a "probable carcinogen." But experts from the European Food Safety Agency now contend it probably doesn't cause cancer.

Central Illinois corn farmer Jerry McCulley refills his sprayer with the weedkiller glyphosate on a farm near Auburn, Ill. A new assessment of the chemical finds that the (uncertain) risks mainly affect the people who work with it or who come in direct co

A Top Weedkiller Could Cause Cancer. Should We Be Scared?

4:00pm March 24, 2015

by Dan Charles

A respected scientific group says that glyphosate, also known as Roundup, is "probably carcinogenic to humans." Yet the actual risks — which are mainly to farmers, not consumers — remain uncertain.

Two teams face off, with moderator John Donvan, on the motion, "Genetically Modify Food."

Debate: Should We Genetically Modify Food?

12:12pm January 13, 2015

by NPR Staff

Many crops we eat today are the product of genetic modifications that happen in a lab, not in nature. Scientists and consumers are divided how cautious we need to be about these foods.

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