GMO Free USA

06/13/2026

A new study titled "A plastic diet for pets" reports on results of testing dry foods for microplastics - both cat and dog foods. The study, based in Spain, tested international and local brands. The results were troubling. The levels detected in dog foods were twice as high as those found in the cat foods tested. The nature of the microplastics differed as well. Cat foods were more likely to be contaminated with microfibers, while dog foods contained microplastic fragments. The types of plastics detected varied, and were tracked back to packaging and processing machinery as the source. There are currently no regulatory limits for microplastics in human or pet foods. The EPA and FDA are currently doing studies on the potential toxicity. We already know microplastics are full of dangerous chemicals with nasty health effects! What are your thoughts on this?

Read the study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001393512600808X

06/13/2026

THIS JUST DOESN'T PASS THE SMELL TEST: A new legal filing seeks to stop Bayer-Monsanto’s proposed Roundup settlement, saying it violates the Constitution. Bayer and a group of plaintiffs’ lawyers, including Seeger Weiss LLP, structured a class action settlement in a Missouri state court that would lock all future Roundup-cancer victims into a program where they would receive as little as $6,000 and makes it very difficult to opt-out. The law firms that struck this deal with Bayer, on the other hand, will see a windfall $675 million payout for helping Bayer.

“It would reward Bayer and Monsanto for its past deeds and give them the green light to have Roundup sprayed everywhere on everything and everybody …,” Thursday’s new court filing states. “Approval of the settlement would be to free one of the nation’s most notorious, long-term polluters from jury trials and real liability for their misdeeds.”

In the May 22 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, lawyer Ashley Keller seeks to “remove” the case from state court to federal court jurisdiction. The hope is that the matter would then be sent to federal court where U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria has been overseeing the nationwide Roundup litigation since 2016. Chhabria is on record as questioning the ethics of the settlement, calling it “filthy”, “mind-boggling,” “legally problematic,” and plagued with “major problems. But Chhabria has no jurisdiction over a state court matter. “This class action was filed not to litigate active claims, but to launder a liability-management scheme through the courts,” the removal filing states.

READ the rest: https://www.thenewlede.org/2026/05/bayers-proposed-settlement-sweetheart-deal

06/13/2026

Gym? We're heading to the garden. 😁 Get this shirt in our Etsy shop: https://organicandgood.etsy.com

06/13/2026

Australia Sues 3M for $1.4 Billion Over PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Contamination: The Australian government said it had launched legal action against 3M over contamination from firefighting foam supplied by the U.S. company that contained PFAS, or "forever chemicals", seeking more than A$2 billion ($1.43 billion) in damages. The claim against the Minnesota-based chemicals maker and its local unit is the largest ever brought by Australia, reflecting the past and future environmental, economic and cultural costs of the contamination, the government said. The government, which used the firefighting foam at 28 defense bases across the country, alleged 3M gave assurances the substance was safe to dispose of, biodegradable and non-toxic. But 3M withheld its own testing showing "significant adverse environmental effects" associated with its use, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland alleged.

Every country in the world and every state in every country should sue 3M and other manufacturers of toxic PFAS chemicals, and manufacturers that dump these toxic chemicals into our environment. If polluters were made to pay, we would have far less pollution in the world. On top of that, corporations that lie about the health or environmental safety of their products should have their corporate charters revoked and those companies should be shut down.

Read more" https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-sues-3m-14-billion-over-pfas-forever-chemicals-contamination-2026-05-28/

Australia Sues 3M for $1.4 Billion Over PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Contamination: The Australian government said it had launched legal ‌action against 3M over contamination from firefighting foam supplied by the U.S. company that contained PFAS, or "forever chemicals", seeking more than A$2 billion ($1.43 billion) in damages. The claim against the Minnesota-based chemicals maker and its local unit is the largest ever brought by ​Australia, reflecting the past and future environmental, economic and cultural costs of the contamination, the government said. The government, which used the ​firefighting foam at 28 defense bases across the country, alleged 3M gave assurances the substance was safe to dispose of, biodegradable and non-toxic. But 3M withheld its own testing showing "significant adverse environmental effects" associated with its use, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland alleged.

Every country in the world and every state in every country should sue 3M and other manufacturers of toxic PFAS chemicals, and manufacturers that dump these toxic chemicals into our environment. If polluters were made to pay, we would have far less pollution in the world. On top of that, corporations that lie about the health or environmental safety of their products should have their corporate charters revoked and those companies should be shut down.

Read more" https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-sues-3m-14-billion-over-pfas-forever-chemicals-contamination-2026-05-28/

06/13/2026

06/12/2026

The Trump administration approved the continued use of the pesticide atrazine, manufactured by ChemChina-Syngenta, after a Fish and Wildlife Service review concluded wrongly that it does not pose an extinction risk to endangered animals and plants in the U.S. That decision now clears another major step for the EPA to continue allowing the pesticide to be used across American farms. Atrazine, a pesticide so toxic that it has the ability to turn male frogs into females, has been banned by more than 60 countries, including China, yet it is the second most widely used herbicide in the U.S., trailing only glyphosate. The new atrazine review goes against what the EPA said in 2021, warning that the pesticide could harm more than 1,000 protected animal and plant species across the country. Studies also link atrazine to birth defects, fertility issues and several types of cancer, posing risks to humans as well.

Because the pesticide industry has full control over the White House and all of our regulatory agencies, we will not see health-protective actions on pesticides from this administration. Despite all of the campaign promises, what we'll see is more pesticide approvals and more poison in our food, water and environment. The Trump administration continues to throw Americans under the bus to help foreign corporations profit from selling toxic pesticides. AMERICA FIRST? NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Read more: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/trump-administration-approves-atrazine-use-1797931

06/12/2026

Australia Sues 3M for $1.4 Billion Over PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Contamination: The Australian government said it had launched legal ‌action against 3M over contamination from firefighting foam supplied by the U.S. company that contained PFAS, or "forever chemicals", seeking more than A$2 billion ($1.43 billion) in damages. The claim against the Minnesota-based chemicals maker and its local unit is the largest ever brought by ​Australia, reflecting the past and future environmental, economic and cultural costs of the contamination, the government said. The government, which used the ​firefighting foam at 28 defense bases across the country, alleged 3M gave assurances the substance was safe to dispose of, biodegradable and non-toxic. But 3M withheld its own testing showing "significant adverse environmental effects" associated with its use, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland alleged.

Every country in the world and every state in every country should sue 3M and other manufacturers of toxic PFAS chemicals, and manufacturers that dump these toxic chemicals into our environment. If polluters were made to pay, we would have far less pollution in the world. On top of that, corporations that lie about the health or environmental safety of their products should have their corporate charters revoked and those companies should be shut down.

Read more" https://www.reuters.com/world/australia-sues-3m-14-billion-over-pfas-forever-chemicals-contamination-2026-05-28/

06/12/2026

Tell your Senators: No legal shields for Bayer-Monsanto! Sign the petition: tinyurl.com/SenateFarmBill

Some politicians are at it again. We must stop them. Again. In April of this year, we were successful in getting a bipartisan coalition of Representatives in the House to remove pesticide-immunity language from the House version of the Farm Bill. But Bayer-Monsanto and the pesticide industry's corrupt puppets in the Senate may be attempting to sneak a pesticide liability shield into the Senate's version of the Farm Bill. One of those corrupt puppets, U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), seems to think Republican voters want their rights taken away from them so pesticide corporations can keep making billions, without accountability when their poison products cause harm. Are you willing to give up your rights to protect Bayer-Monsanto?

Sign the petition: tinyurl.com/SenateFarmBill

06/11/2026

Two rounds of testing that took place 3 years apart have found dangerous levels of toxins in many items of clothing sold on the Shein Chinese fast fashion website, the world's most visited fashion website. The most recent testing in 2025 compared levels of toxins detected to EU safety tolerance thresholds.

Greenpeace purchased 56 garments from Shein across eight countries and had them analyzed for hazardous chemicals. The results are alarming:
> 18 of 56 products (32 %) exceeded EU limits; including children's clothing (3 items)
> 7 products (jackets) exceeded PFAS limits by up to 3,300 times.
> 14 products exceeded phthalates limits, six by 100 times or more.
Particularly concerning are persistent, hormone-disrupting substances such as PFAS — used to make jackets water and stain-repellent — and phthalates, used as plasticizers in footwear. Also detected were heavy metals and VOCs.

SHAME ON YOU, SHEIN. Have you bought something from Shein? Time to get rid of it.

Read the Greenpeace report:https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-eu-unit-stateless/2025/11/3ad070d9-20251114_shameonyoushein.pdf

06/11/2026

Texas has secured a landmark settlement with Albertsons Safeway LLC, ending the chain’s practice of misting USDA-certified organic produce with synthetic antimicrobial pesticides. The investigation, launched in January 2026, found that ProduceMaxx — an EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide containing hypochlorous acid — was being sprayed on organic produce in misting systems to control bacteria and extend shelf life. While ProduceMaxx is approved for certain food safety uses, it is not allowed on organic produce unless chlorine levels are below 4 parts per million or a water rinse is performed. Many consumers were unaware that organic fruits and vegetables had been treated, undermining the trust in organic labeling. All Albertsons-owned stores in Texas must stop using ProduceMaxx or similar misting chemicals on organic produce. The company committed to ceasing misting within 90 days and updating policies.

The settlement applies to all Albertsons-owned chains in the state, including Albertsons Market, Randall’s, Tom Thumb, United Supermarkets, Market Street, United Express, Market Street Express and Amigos.

Albertsons should not only comply with this Texas settlement, the company needs to stop the illegal practice of spraying certified organic produce throughout all of its stores across the country. Are you an organic shopper that patrons Albertsons or any of its other branded chains outside of Texas? You need to raise hell with store management to make sure they're not doing this anywhere in the U.S.