Researchers found four in five Americans have been exposed to the “toxic” pesticide chlormequat, which is used in oat-based foods like Cheerios and Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Oats and can cause fertility problems in animals.

Around 80% of Americans have been exposed to the plant pesticide chlormequat, which causes fertility and growth issues in animals, according to a new study published Thursday…

  • @Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
    3•4 months ago

    Would that qualify as a fertilizer, providing something the plant needs for its stems, or some sort of hormone that encourages plant stem growth, or something else?

    • Badabinski
      1•4 months ago

      Chlormequat is a “plant growth regulator.” It prevents the plant from creating a hormone that would otherwise cause the plant’s stems to elongate and thin. Falls into the “something else” category, imo.

      Edit: I think that some plant growth regulators are hormones, but not all. I should note that I’m not an expert, I just like to look chemicals up on Wikipedia (and the linked sources) and noticed that a lot of journalists were getting this wrong.