WASHINGTON – For over a decade, a public relations firm headed by a former Monsanto executive has coordinated an influence campaign to promote the use of paraquat and other toxic pesticides around the world, finds a new investigation by The New Lede and other media outlets.
The PR firm, Saint Louis–based v-Fluence Interactive, has helped advance the use of pesticides abroad, downplayed their dangers and discredited opponents one by one – with the participation of U.S. officials and support of U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Besides The New Lede, the international reporting consortium that uncovered the influence campaign includes The Guardian and Lighthouse Reports, among other outlets.
“It’s alarming to see this coordination between the U.S. government and the agrochemical industry and allies to suppress valid concerns about pesticide use in foreign countries, and to create and share disparaging profiling of individuals they deem opponents,” said Carey Gillam, The New Lede managing editor and co-author of the story. “Using taxpayer funds for profiling is especially troubling.”
V-Fluence Interactive maintains a private opposition-research-style portal called Bonus Eventus. This database helps agrochemical companies and allies attack people and organizations who publicly raise concerns about pesticides and the agribusiness juggernaut pushing these chemicals on the world.
The database includes the profiles of more than 500 scientists, politicians, environmental advocacy groups and others seen as opponents of pesticides and genetically modified crops. Some pages covering individuals include information such as addresses, cell phone numbers and details about deeply personal events such as a spouse’s cause of death and even trivial matters such as a traffic ticket.
More than 1,000 people are members of the password-protected Bonus Eventus, including executives from large agrochemical companies and their lobbyists, as well as academics and high-level U.S. government officials.
The intelligence portal’s creation was funded in part by the U.S. government, according to the investigation by The New Lede and other outlets. They found records showing that the U.S. Agency for International Development paid out over $400,000 for work by v-Fluence and others from 2013 to 2019 for projects in African and Asian countries.
V-Fluence Interactive was founded and is run by Jay Byrne, who was previously director of corporate communications for the agrichemical giant Monsanto. Before that, Byrne worked as a high-level campaign strategist and PR official for Democratic candidates and lawmakers.
Byrne and v-Fluence are co-defendants in a case recently brought by a family of farmers, some of whom have Parkinson’s disease, against the chemical giant Syngenta. They seek damages for links between their condition and exposure to paraquat.
Peer-reviewed science links paraquat exposure to a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, a progressive brain disorder characterized by involuntary movements like tremors, stiffness and impaired balance. When these symptoms worsen, people with Parkinson’s develop profound and often permanent impairment of movement and speech.
The family accuses Byrne and his company of helping Syngenta, the Chinese-owned chemical giant and longtime manufacturer of paraquat, suppress information about the risks of paraquat. They also accuse the conglomerate of helping to “neutralize” critics of the company.
This is just one of thousands of lawsuits filed against Syngenta about paraquat in recent months. It is banned in over 70 countries, although it remains legal in the U.S.
The Environmental Working Group and The Michael J. Fox Foundation in August launched a campaign calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to ban paraquat in the U.S. The agency has until mid-January to decide.
A growing body of research shows that numerous pesticides commonly used by farmers to kill insects, weeds, fungi and other pests can increase the risk of leukemia, cancer, immunological problems, and reproductive and developmental issues.
Many pesticides are widely used right up until the day they’re banned – the EPA allows the use of chemicals whose safety is in question rather than remove them from the market until their safety is proven. And even more of these chemicals are never banned by most countries.
Full disclosure: The New Lede, which launched in 2022, is a journalism initiative of EWG and is a distinct service that operates independently of the organization’s advocacy and communications units. EWG has no influence on editorial decision-making at The New Lede.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
