Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pesticides]

a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.

31 questions
49
votes
2 answers

Is the decline in polio symptoms directly caused by the banning of pesticides such as DDT?

According to Forest Maready's "The Moth in the Iron Lung" and several other sites brought to my attention by social media posts, the poliovirus wasn't as virulent as thought. Claims by the book's author include (as summarized by their YouTube…
James Mertz
  • 733
  • 1
  • 5
  • 13
38
votes
5 answers

Are bees disappearing and why?

According to the web site of the film Vanishing of the Bees: Bees are dying in their billions. In the UK, around one fifth of honeybee hives were lost in the winter of 2008/2009. Is there evidence of bees disappearing and what are scientific…
Egle
  • 3,439
  • 1
  • 27
  • 39
30
votes
2 answers

Do American foods contain unsafe levels of glyphosate?

I came across the article Monsanto Is Scrambling To Bury This Breaking Story – Don’t Let This Go Unshared! claiming there was an unsafe level of glyphosate in a number of foods. The key claim seems to be that 0.1 pbb is unsafe and larger amounts…
user1605665
  • 6,751
  • 6
  • 27
  • 48
22
votes
2 answers

Do fruit/vegetable washes effectively remove pesticides?

Is there any evidence to suggest that commercially available fruit/vegetable washes can effectively remove pesticides from produce? Here are some example claims: Veggie Wash uses natural cleaners from citrus, corn and coconut to break up the wax,…
InquilineKea
  • 1,069
  • 2
  • 10
  • 15
22
votes
1 answer

Is DDT significantly less harmful than claimed by the EPA?

The 1962 book "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson was instrumental at affecting public opinion against DDT and other pesticides culminating on banning DDT all over the world. While Carlson has many detractors, ecology militants would label them as…
Paulo Scardine
  • 321
  • 1
  • 5
21
votes
2 answers

What is the cause of Brazil's microcephaly outbreak?

It has been claimed that Brazil is suffering from an outbreak of Microcephaly. Several possible causes have been proposed. Zika Virus Perhaps the most popular one is the zika virus. For example, the NY Times wrote: The possibility that the Zika…
fdb
  • 935
  • 6
  • 14
20
votes
1 answer

Does flour or rice make an ant's stomach explode?

As I attempt to kill ants in my yard, I've been reading various claims about how to kill ants without common consumer chemical pesticides like DEET. One claim that I've heard repeatedly is that rice, corn meal or flour can make an ant's stomach…
Mark Rogers
  • 11,324
  • 11
  • 55
  • 71
13
votes
1 answer

Do prairie dogs die when they eat bubblegum?

There are many sources on the internet which claim that prairie dogs can be exterminated using bubblegum: Source 1: prairie dogs are handled with poison or bazooka joe bubble gum, of which the dogs chew and can't swallow because it gets caught…
March Ho
  • 18,688
  • 12
  • 81
  • 109
12
votes
2 answers

Do dryer sheets repel insects?

I recently asked over on Judaism.SE about how to keep bees away from a Sukkah. I got a reply that suggested that by hanging dryer sheets around, bees would stay away. I looked around online and seem to be getting conflicting reports with some…
yydl
  • 825
  • 2
  • 8
  • 14
11
votes
2 answers

Does Roundup (glyphosate) cause kidney disease in farmers?

A viral photo on Facebook widely, shared by GMO Free USA, claims that Roundup has been linked to kidney disease. Breaking news: Sri Lanka becomes first country to ban sale of Monsanto's Roundup in light of recent study linking roundup to kidney…
Oddthinking
  • 140,378
  • 46
  • 548
  • 638
10
votes
2 answers

Is EPA-approved insecticide (clothianidin) responsible for killing off bees?

A recent article in NaturalNews claims that last year there were leaked documents exposing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) illegitimately approved toxic pesticide clothianidin for use, while being aware it might kill bees. Now,…
Ilari Kajaste
  • 1,491
  • 2
  • 16
  • 21
10
votes
3 answers

Is GM corn toxic?

According to Vendomois et al, 2009: these data highlight signs of hepatorenal toxicity, possibly due to the new pesticides specific to each GM corn. Monsanto, the manufacturer of two of the studied strains of GM corn, responded, dismissing the…
Larry OBrien
  • 15,105
  • 2
  • 70
  • 97
9
votes
1 answer

Is the peel of commercially-grown apples toxic with pesticides?

According to an article in Yahoo! Voices: Many people choose to peel an apple because they fear exposure to pesticides. This is a legitimate concern. Surveys have shown that pesticide residues were found on more than ninety percent of apples…
Karolis Juodelė
  • 253
  • 2
  • 5
8
votes
0 answers

Do ultrasonic antifouling devices work for boats?

Jaycar are a reasonably reputable retailer of electronic components. They have recently been pushing antifouling devices to help prevent marine life from attaching to the bottom of boats. There is a project kit that references Silicon Chip Magazine…
Oddthinking
  • 140,378
  • 46
  • 548
  • 638
8
votes
0 answers

Can plug-in electromagnetic pest control devices repel rodents?

On the Pest Free web site they claim they can control pests with an electromagnetic device. Plug-in Pest Free is electronic pest control device that uses small, completely safe, pulses of electro magnetic force to repell pests such as rodents,…
Joseph Zappulla
  • 81
  • 1
1
2 3