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New Research Catalogues Bayer’s Cancer Gag Act Push
New Food & Water Watch research released Aug. 5 catalogues Roundup-producer Bayer’s national push to pass Cancer Gag Act legislation that would shield pesticide manufacturers from health related lawsuits.
The push comes as the corporation has spent over $11 billion settling more than 100,000 cancer lawsuits related to Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate, which the World Health Organization deems “probably carcinogenic to humans.” Copycat bills were introduced in twelve states this year to robust opposition, failing in nine and passing in two (the bill is still pending in North Carolina).
Reintroduction of the federal bill, first introduced in 2023 as the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act, is expected this year. House Republicans furthered related language to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from improving warning labels on dangerous pesticides, in an appropriations bill vote just last month.
House Rider on Pesticide Labels Pits Republicans Against MAHA Moms
Environmental Health News reported:
A little-noticed spending rider that would freeze pesticide label updates has put House Republicans at odds with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) coalition that helped return Donald Trump to the White House. Section 453 of the House interior appropriations bill would bar the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and states from changing pesticide labels unless they first complete years-long health reassessments.
Bayer, CropLife America, and other industry players support the measure, while more than 500 MAHA organizers — especially the vocal “MAHA moms” — are flooding Republican offices with calls and letters demanding its removal.
The Senate bill omits the rider, setting up fall negotiations that could strain the Republican-MAHA alliance and determine how quickly regulators can respond to new science. “Mothers are not beholden to party lines. We vote based on who will put the health and safety of our children first.” — Zen Honeycutt, Moms Across America leader
Three Major Chemical Companies Agree to Pay $875m to New Jersey Over PFAS Claims
Chemours, DuPont and Corteva have agreed to pay $875m over 25 years to the state of New Jersey to settle environmental claims including pollution linked to PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, the companies said on Aug 4.
Lawsuits accusing major chemical companies of polluting U.S. drinking water with toxic PFAS chemicals led to more than $11bn in settlements in 2023, with experts predicting that new federal regulations and a growing awareness of the breadth of the contamination will spur more litigation and settlements.
PFAS are a class of chemicals that are used in a wide range of products including non-stick cookware and firefighting foams. They are commonly called “forever chemicals” as these substances do not break down easily in the human body or nature, and are associated with certain cancers, hormonal dysfunction and other health problems.
How Pesticides Help Fuel Iowa’s Cancer Crisis
Don Carpenter remembers when farming looked different. Growing up on his family’s 160-acre dairy farm in Cascade, Iowa, he remembers watching his father apply pesticides for about a month each spring: a seasonal ritual that seemed manageable, contained.
“It’s what you did,” the 54-year-old Carpenter said. “You didn’t know any better.”
The north fork of the Maquoketa River winds through Cascade on its way through Dubuque County. Along its length, acres of farmland stretch on, row by row on either side of the river.
“Every time that plane goes over and comes near the river, I just shake my head,” he said. “I understand you have to take care of the corn, but, it just drives me nuts that they’re spraying (pesticides) so close to a body of water.”
Thirty million acres — nearly three-fourths — of Iowa’s area is used for crops and rotational pastures, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 Census of Agriculture. While the number of farms in the state has decreased, these operations and their size have grown dramatically over the years. In 1950, the average farm size in Iowa was 169 acres. By 2012, the average farm size was 345 acres; it had doubled.
Pesticide Contamination of Waterway Impairs Development of Freshwater Fish, a Keystone Species
With increasing concern about the long-term consequences of pesticide persistence in ecosystems, the scientific literature continues to expand the body of research findings on adverse effects, including impacts on marine or aquatic ecosystems and organisms.
Given the known and growing risks, there is an ongoing movement to move beyond petrochemical-based chemicals for agriculture and land management by adopting policies and programs that advance organic criteria and principles, as outlined in national organic law and practiced by tens of thousands of certified farmers and land managers across the country, and even more at the international level.
“The objective of this study was to assess the physiological responses of juvenile P. lineatus exposed to environmentally relevant pesticide mixtures by integrating multiple biological endpoints across sub-individual and organismal levels,” the authors write.
