New Study Links Neonicotinoids to Bee Virus

A team of scientists in Italy believe they have found the molecular mechanism through which neonicotinoid pesticides impacts the immune system of honey bees. The team?s experiments suggest that exposure to neonicotinoids results in increased levels of a particular protein in bees that inhibits a key molecule involved in the immune response, making the insects more susceptible to attack by harmful viruses. Though previous studies have indicated that exposure to minute amount of neurotoxic pesticides like neonicotinoids severely impair the immune systems of bees, the underlying mechanism has was not yet been fully?understood. This work is the latest of several studies to add weight to the urgency of repeated calls from U.S. beekeeper and environmental groups for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to?suspend the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, as the European Commission recently decided this past April.

“Dirty Dozen” List of Hormone Disrupting Chemicals

The Environmental Working Group recently released a guide to educate consumers about some of the most problematic hormone-altering chemicals that people are routinely exposed to. EWG, which created the popular and widely used Dirty Dozen list of the most pesticide-contaminated produce, developed the Dirty Dozen list of endocrine disruptors to highlight the prevalence of these toxic chemicals, how they affect our health and simple ways to avoid them. Click here to see the list.
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How Food Literate Are You? Take the Quiz to Find Out

Organizers of Food Day, a nationwide celebration aimed at bringing attention to the movement for healthy, affordable and sustainable, food, devised a quiz to gauge your knowledge of all things food. Several of the questions in the test? Click here to test your foodie knowledge.