Questions tagged [pesticides]
a substance used for destroying insects or other organisms harmful to cultivated plants or to animals.
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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 ...
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Does lavender oil prevent fleas on dogs?
I just heard a rumor that Lavender oil prevents fleas when used on dogs. Researching this I found one source (Prevetion.com) which provides a claim,
Research has found that lavender can be effective ...
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Does Phenol (Carbolic acid) repel snakes?
Context: In India, snake prone villages or areas where snakebite deaths are common, people use phenol (carbolic acid) in a commercially prepared liquid solution beside the home and doorways. The form ...
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Does baking soda help reducing pesticides from fruits and vegetables?
It seems to be effective with some pesticides on apples:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.7b03118
I cannot find other studies related to other fruits and vegetables.
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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 ...
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Is whitewashing trees a good practice?
In some countries it's a common practice to whitewash the trunks of fruit trees in the spring and autumn. They say it protects them from sunburns and that the calx (CaO) acts as a disinfectant. But ...
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Are GMOs a threat to bee populations? [closed]
An image is making the rounds on some Facebook groups:
It appears to have originated from an anti-GMO website.
Although the image is making multiple claims, there is an implied claim that GMOs are ...
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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 ...
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Does esbiothrin kill mosquitos?
I recently made use of an esbiothrin insecticide spray I bought in Europe.
I've been using this product for a while now, with good results, I found it to be completely useless when used in Morocco.
...
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Do supermarkets spray fruit to keep it from rotting?
Many people wash their fruits because they say that supermarkets put a chemical spray on them to keep them nice for a long time without rotting. (They are concerned that eating food with that spray is ...
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Does glyphosate herbicide break down into more toxic substances in the environment?
I am being asked to sign a petition that claims
The residues of glyphosate can stay in the environment for up to 174 days, often breaking down into more toxic substances.
Does glyphosate (a.k.a. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Can pesticides from conventionally grown food be detected in urine samples?
Coop Sverige AB have a short video shown based on an unpeer-reviewed pilot study that found that a family who ate conventionally-grown food had urine tests that could detect pesticides.
(The ...
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Do pesticides containing EDCs cause IQ loss, obesity and cryptorchidism?
Recently, there have been news reports about Endochrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) have sprung up, such as this February 2015 Guardian article.
Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides ...
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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 ...
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Does baking soda eliminate a cockroach infestation?
My questions concerns a population, more significant than simply exterminating an individual cockroach.
Claim: http://pest.tips.net/T003494_Kill_Roaches_with_Baking_Soda_and_Sugar.html
If you're ...
user16959
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Does Triclosan effectively treat skin infections?
Minnesota recently mades the news for banning Triclosan, an antibacterial agent used in handwashes, due to potential health risks. (This question is not about those risks.)
Those risks must be ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Do the Celestial Seasonings teas contain dangerously high pesticide levels?
Someone on r/tea suggested updating the Celestial Seasonings (a tea brand) wikipedia page "to include the pesticide thing."
A Google search finds a response of Celestial Seasonings to these ...
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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, ...
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Are ants afraid of chalk and won't cross a chalk line?
Chalk
Keep ants at bay by drawing a line around home entry points. The ants will be repelled by the calcium carbonate in the chalk, which is actually made up of ground-up and compressed shells of ...
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Are ants afraid of the smell of lemon?
From 13 Common Items for Getting Rid of Ants:
Lemons
You don’t need insecticides or ant traps to ant-proof your kitchen. Just give it the lemon treatment. First squirt some lemon juice on door ...
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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 ...
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Is GM corn toxic? [duplicate]
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 ...
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Does catnip repel rats, mice and cockroaches?
Cat-world claims that catnip can repel rats, mice and cockroaches.
It was also discovered that catnip repels cockroaches too!
and
Rats & mice are also believed to have a strong dislike of ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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