The Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul has suspended the use of a chemical used to kill mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus, after doctors voiced concerns that it may be the actual cause of brain defects in newborns. The state government’s move followed reports from the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST) and Brazilian Collective Health Association (Abrasco) which both suggested that the larvicide, not the Zika virus, was responsible for the alarming spike in microcephaly. Pyriproxyfen, the larvicide used in a government-run program aimed at controlling the mosquito population in the country, is manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a subsidiary company associated with Monsanto. RT reports: The use of larvicide, known as Pyriproxyfen, added to water to prevent the virus that is now spreading across the Americas, has been put on hold in Rio Grande do Sul, the regional government announced on Sunday. Earlier, the Argentine group Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST) issued a report saying the idea that the increase of microcephaly, a type of disorder characterized by underdeveloped brain and skull, is linked to Zika may be false. Instead, they claim that the larvicide added to water in Brazil is to blame for the [...]