25/November/19

 

The potential exit of the UK from the European Union (EU) — aka “Brexit” — may portend greater pesticide use and exposures, according to a report from the Soil Association and the Pesticide Action Network UK. The report points to uncertainty, despite reassurances from the UK government, about what regulatory standards will actually be in effect if and when Brexit occurs. The report also highlights the under-regulated issue identified in the report’s title — The Cocktail Effect — synergistic impacts of exposures to multiple synthetic pesticide compounds. Beyond Pesticides

 

 

CRISPR inventor Jennifer Doudna has called for strong regulation of gene editing in humans. However, plant/farm animal gene editing is still subject to all the uncertainties that plague human gene editing, and that's before we even get to the huge ethical issues. GMWatch comment on article in MIT Technology Review

 

 

Indiana regulators recently took steps to set the cutoff date for spraying dicamba herbicide products in GM dicamba-tolerant soybeans as June 20. If the decision stands, farmers won’t be able to spray those specific dicamba products after that date. Dave Scott, pesticide administrator with the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC), reports dicamba complaint claims received by OISC were up again in 2019. It’s the third straight year that OISC has received a significant number of dicamba drift claims. Indiana Prairie Farmer; comment by GMWatch