How Wrong Is The Latest “Dirty Dozen” List? By Steve Savage.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) says that it “helps protect your family from pesticides.” The purpose of this Applied Mythology post is to “help protect your family from dangerously misleading information from the EWG.” Each year since 1991, the USDA has been publishing the results from a large-scale pesticide residue monitoring program called the PDP. Each year, a different set of crops is chosen and samples are purchased from regular stores and tested. Year after year, the results of those studies confirm the safety of the food supply. Year after year the EWG misrepresents the data to say otherwise. Read the full article on Science 2.0.
EWG Is Wrong Again
May 20, 2013
Anti-Pesticide Activists and Honeybees
May 20, 2013
“Chemophobic Anti-Pesticide Groups Are At It Again,” By Paul Driessen.
Modern environmentalism rose to ascendancy on opposition to pesticides, specifically DDT. “If the environmentalists win on DDT,” Environmental Defense Fund scientist Charles Wurster told the Seattle Times in 1969, “they will achieve a level of authority they have never had before.” Using Rachel Carson’s often inaccurate book Silent Spring to drive a nasty campaign, they succeeded in getting the Environmental Protection Agency to ban US production and use of DDT in 1972, leading to a de facto global ban even to combat malaria. Read the full article on Townhall.com.
Bees and Pesticide Regulation
May 16, 2013
“Will We ‘Bee’ Smart about Pesticide Regulation? by Henry Miller
On April 29, the European Commission failed for the second time to get the votes necessary to pass a proposed two-year ban on several innovative agricultural pesticides known as neonicotinoids (“neonics”). But immediately after reporting that a “qualified majority” of member states had not been reached, the Commission’s health and consumer affairs commissioner, Tonio Borg, announced that he would institute the ban administratively. Read the full article on the Daily Caller.
Junk Science, EWG, and FOX News
May 16, 2013
“Surprising Junk Science on FOX News,” by Angela Logomasini.
News stories trumping junk science are common, but I expect better from FOX News, which claims to be “fair and balanced” and hosts great shows like STOSSEL. And they’ve run some of my commentaries, which I appreciate. That’s why I am perplexed by some FOX reports on environmental issues, many of which seem to peddle junk science pushed by activists at the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Read the full article on OpenMarket.org.
Bee Colony Collapse & Anti-Pesticide Activists
May 16, 2013
“Collapse Of Bee Colonies Is Latest Target For Anti-Pesticide Groups,” By Paul Driessen.
Beekeeping is big business, and everyone loves honey and foods made possible by pollination. But “colony collapse disorder” threatens bees and crop pollination in many areas. CCD and other bee die-offs are nothing new. What we now call colony collapse was first reported in 1869, and many outbreaks since then have sent scientists scurrying for explanations and solutions. Fungi, varroa mites and other possible suspects have been implicated, but no definitive answer has yet been found. Read the full article in Investors Business Daily.
Chemophobic Mom Blogs
May 14, 2013
“Mommy Blogs Feed Chemophobia,” by Julie Gunlock.
When I started writing about chemicals a few years ago, I was driven by my own interest in the subject. As a new mom, I was suddenly hearing a lot more about the seemingly innocuous things that could harm my baby. I’m not talking about obvious things—like unfriendly dogs, child predators, broken playground equipment, and asteroids hurtling toward earth. No, no. I was being told that I needed to worry about plastic sippy-cups, non-organic cotton clothing, genetically modified corn in baby snacks, and…innocent-looking rubber duckies. Read the full article in IWF’s Inkwell blog.
Triclosan, NRDC and FDA Review
May 14, 2013
“‘Shocking’ Truth about Government and Soap,” by Angela Logomasini.
Is your hand wash slowly killing you as government regulators sit idly by? Sounds silly, but that’s what environmentalists seem to think about an antibacterial agent called triclosan, which is used in soap and other consumer products. According to the NRDC: “In laboratory studies, they [antibacterial chemicals] have been shown to disrupt hormones and can encourage the growth of drug-resistant bacteria or ‘superbugs.’” The group wants consumers to urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “to pull products containing triclosan and triclocarban from store shelves.” The NRDC is also suing FDA for not completing its scientific review of triclosan, which has dragged on for more than 40 years. Read the full story on OpenMarket.org.
EWG Dirty Science
May 9, 2013
“Dirty Dozen List 
Loses its Punch,” by Richard Cornett.”
This year’s release of the Dirty Dozen List produced by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is beginning to shed its sizzle because of a full-court press by agricultural interests to focus on science-based information. Each year the EWG comes out with a list that ranks fruits and vegetables according to pesticide residue levels. For years the list has been a constant irritant to agriculture because it gives the impression that conventional fruits and veggies are replete with globs of unsafe pesticides and suggests consumers buy their produce from organic sources. These unfounded claims were usually reinforced by widespread media coverage each year. Read the full story in the Farm Press.
Green Chemistry Nightmare
May 9, 2013
“Coming To A Theater Near You: California’s “Green Chemistry” Nightmare,” by Hugh Hewitt.
I should be the last guy complaining. My law partner Liz McNulty and I will spend many a billable hour over the next decade or two advising companies on what to do with the avalanche of regulations about to descend on them courtesy of California’s Department of Toxic Substances. Their “green revolution” nightmare is about to begin, and the only folks who will benefit from it are employed by the government, environmental activists, or lawyers advising the private sector on what to do. Read the full article on HughHewitt.com
Regulatory Inertia & Triclosan
May 9, 2013
“The EPA Opens a New Review of Handsoap, But Government Study Goes on for Decades,” by Paul Alexander.
In Washington, the Wheels of Government Grind Slowly — When they Grind at All. One area of government habitually plagued by bureaucracy is the regulatory agencies, among them the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. Reviews of substances regulated by these agencies can take years, sometimes many years. Few reviews have lasted longer than the one afforded a chemical compound called triclosan, a widely used substance contained in products in the vast majority of American homes today. Read the full article at Huffington Post.
BPA Replacements Not Better
May 7, 2013
“BPA Replacement Faces Same Attacks as BPA,” by Kenneth Artz.
As anti-chemical activists attempt to ban the safe but controversial chemical Bisphenol A from plastic products, a new study claims the most viable replacement chemical presents greater human health concerns than the exhaustively tested Bisphenol A. Read the full article in Climate and Environment News.
Pesticide Scare Debunked
May 7, 2013
“Environmental Activist Scare Debunked,” by Jeff Stier.
In a piece for the Huffington Post, Dr. Henry I. Miller and I take on the Environmental Working Group for scaring the public about the safety of fruits and vegetables. We also take on the scare-hungry media for reporting on the junk-science as if it had any merit. Read the full story on the NCPPR blog.
Are Pesticide Residues Dangerous?
May 6, 2013
“Nutritious Apples, Poisonous Claims,” By Angela Logomasini
Eat fewer apples, strawberries and grapes, and more corn, onions and pineapples, and you’ll protect yourself and your children from “toxic” pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2013 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. This advice, however, is nothing more than dangerous hogwash. Read the full article in the Washington Times.
Scare Mongering About Lipstick
May 6, 2013
“Environmental Scaremongers Strike Again,” by Center for Consumer Freedom.
In the past we’ve covered the so-called “Campaign for Safe Cosmetics,” (CSC) an environmentalist scare spinoff of the Environmental Working Group (perhaps better billed the “Environmental Worry Group”). EWG is so prone to overblowing fears of chemicals that 79 percent of members of the Society of Toxicology surveyed thought EWG overstated chemical risks, so it’s understandable that CSC, its corporate child, is hyping a study that found certain heavy metals in lipstick and other makeup. Read the full article on the Center for Consumer Freedom website.
Beekeeper Fingers Ethanol Mandate
May 1, 2013
“My Bees, Pesticides and Washington State’s Biofuel Mandate,” by Todd Myers.
The sun is slowly arriving and the bees in my new beehives, as well as bees across the Northwest, will be happier for it. As they begin to pollinate flowers and orchards, however, they will face a number of challenges: Varroa mites, wasps, pesticides and loss of suitable bee pasture. Recently, various members of the environmental community have seized on the threat from one type of pesticide, known as neonicotinoids, claiming it is responsible for what has been a very difficult few years for bees and beekeepers. Read the full article on the Washington Policy Center Blog.
Choosing Organic Food–or Not
May 1, 2013
“Choosy moms choose…” by Anastasia Bodnar.
On Twitter the other day, I was told that “moms choose organic” for their kids. I’m a mom (almost) and I don’t choose organic. Personally, I dislike the implication that I am doing wrong by not buying organic and I think it causes harm to spread such an idea because it might discourage people from eating healthy foods that don’t have that label (or encourage people to eat junk food just because it’s labeled organic). Also, organic is a small percentage of food and beverage sales in the US (4% overall, 11% of produce¹) so it’d be impossible for very many moms to be choosing organic exclusively or for even part of their diet. Read the full article on The Biofortified Blog.
The Poltics of Bees and Neonicotinoid Insecticides
April 30, 2013
“The Politics of Bees Turns Science on its Head — Europe Bans Neonics While Local Beekeepers, Scientists Say Action is Precipitous,” by Jon Entine.
In a move they say will protect bees, the European Commission announced on Monday that it would impose a two-year ban on neonicotinoid insecticides, although a sharp divide remains whether politics or science is driving this policy change. …. They have announced that the ban will likely become effective at the end of the year even though the scientific questions as to what has caused the bee deaths remain largely unanswered. Farmers in Europe and elsewhere are almost universally opposed to even a temporary ban absent definitive real world research, calling it reckless. As they note, because bans exist on more toxic organophosphates—the chemicals that neonics replaced because of their more benign safety profile—there are no real alternatives. Read the full article on Forbes.com. See also this piece.
Study of Roundup Herbicide: Junk Science
April 30, 2013
“Is Glyphosate Poisoning Everyone?” by Derek Lowe.
I’ve had a few people send along this article, on the possible toxicological effects of the herbicide glyphosate, wondering what I make of it as a medicinal chemist. It’s getting a lot of play in some venues, particularly the news-from-Mother-Nature outlets. After spending some time reading this paper over, and looking through the literature, I’ve come to a conclusion: it is, unfortunately, a load of crap. Read the full article on Corante.
Phoney Science on Roundup Herbicide
April 30, 2013
“Condemning Monsanto With Bad Science Is Dumb,” By Tamar Haspel.
Did you see the latest indictment of Monsanto making the rounds? It’s a “peer-reviewed” paper in the journal Entropy, co-authored by Anthony Samsel and Stephanie Seneff, blaming glyphosate, the compound in the herbicide Roundup, for virtually all the ills that can befall us. But here’s the thing — they made it up. Read the full article on Huffington Post.
Confused Cancer Priorities
April 25, 2013
“Modish, Anti-Science Thinking Won’t Advance Breast Cancer Prevention,” Geoffrey Kabat.
Two months ago an entity called the Inter-Agency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee, or IBCERCC, issued a 270-page report entitled “Breast Cancer and the Environment: Prioritizing Prevention.” Read the full article on Forbes.com.
BPA and other Chemicals Don’t Belong on Prop 65 List
April 25, 2013
“Why BPA (And Other Chemicals) Don’t Belong On Proposition 65,” by Angela Logomasini.
If you want to have fun in California’s Disneyland, avoid reading the warning signs saying that products used in the park may give you cancer and reproductive problems! They’re not just a buzz kill, they are plain dumb and misinformed. But it’s state law that they be there. You can find them in Starbucks and many other places throughout the state too. Read the full article on OpenMarket.org.
Honeybees and Neonicotinoid Pesticides
April 25, 2013
“Push to Ban Neonicotinoid Insecticides Takes on Political Overtones: Honeybee Research Questioned,” by The National Cotton Council.
As environmental activists coalesce around a ban on the neonicotinoid insecticides as the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a timely article recently published in Forbes magazine by Jon Entine, a senior fellow at George Mason U., calls for cooler heads to prevail on the issue. Entine points out that, over the past five years, some 30 percent of bees in the United States have disappeared — about 50 percent more than the rate expected. Read the full article on the Southeast Farm Press.
BPA Not Toxic
April 24, 2013
“BPA Delisted: Not ‘Toxic,’” Angela Logomasini
On April 11, California regulators placed the chemical Bisphenol A on its list of “toxic” substances under its Proposition 65 law. BPA has been used safely for more than 60 years to make hard, clear plastics and resins that line metal food containers to prevent development of dangerous pathogens. Dr. Gilbert Ross explains … Read the full article on IWF’s Inkwell blog.
Ground Zero Cancer Claims
April 24, 2013
“Ground Zero Cancer: Cynical Manipulation of Statistics Rather than Science,” by American Council on Science and Health.
This week’s announcement from Mount Sinai Hospital’s World Trade Center Health Program that Ground Zero workers have been found to have a “15 percent higher rate of cancer” than expected set off cries for more compensation for the heroic WTC victims of the toxic dust at the site of the terrorist destruction over 11 years ago. Read the full story in ACSH Dispatch.
ACSH Scientists Speak on BPA
April 23, 2013
“BPA added to California’s Proposition 65 list” by American Council on Science and Health.
