Insecticides

A world without pesticides?

It's been well known for quite some time that the human population has been booming like never before. Thanks to advances in technology, medicine and science, people are living longer lives and creating bigger families to follow in their footsteps.

While it's always a benefit for people to have an improved length and quality of life, it also puts a strain on natural resources. Specifically, as more people are born, more food has to be produced. This need for food has created an opening for pesticides, which have been used to minimize pests and help crops flourish.

France to propose pesticide-free buffer zones in residential areas

The French government is preparing to fix a 5m or 10m pesticide-free buffer zone around housing areas, after several local mayors defied the government by banning weed killers like glyphosate in their towns. But environmentalists say such distances fall short of the mark. The government will begin discussing legislation to introduce pesticide-free buffer zones on Monday, an Agriculture Ministry spokesperson told AFP.

Henk Tennekes story retold

America’s agricultural landscape is now 48 times more toxic to honeybees, and likely other insects, than it was 25 years ago, almost entirely due to widespread use of so-called neonicotinoid pesticides, according to a new study published today in the journal PLOS One. This enormous rise in toxicity matches the sharp declines in bees, butterflies, and other pollinators as well as birds, says co-author Kendra Klein, senior staff scientist at Friends of the Earth US. “This is the second Silent Spring.

Pitfalls in pesticide regulation that fail to identify critical aspects of chemical toxicity

Expenditure for discovery and development of a new crop protection product is now approaching the $ 300 million mark, while at the same time underpinning critical information gaps in environmental safety assessment. Large information gaps also exist for the safety of a vast number of existing chemicals in commerce. The catastrophy in the insect world inflicted by time-reinforced toxicity of neonicotinoids is a case in point. We are on the brink of an ecological Armageddon as a result of pitfalls in pesticide regulation that fail to identify critical aspects of chemical toxicity.

De valkuilen bij de regulering van pesticiden

De uitgaven voor de ontdekking en ontwikkeling van een nieuw gewasbeschermingsmiddel naderen nu de grens van 300 miljoen dollar, terwijl tegelijkertijd kritische leemten in de informatie inzake milieu veiligheid duidelijk zijn geworden. Er zijn ook grote hiaten in de informatie voor de veiligheid van een groot aantal bestaande chemicaliën. De catastrofe in de insectenwereld, die wordt aangetast door de extreme toxiciteit van neonicotinoïden, is hiervan een goed voorbeeld.

Damselflies are being harmed by thiacloprid

Damselfly populations are being harmed by insecticides as researchers find the wildlife scourge of neonicotinoids continues to grow. Some chemicals in this group have already been banned by the EU but thiacloprid is still in widespread use. Similar chemicals in the neonicotinoid family have already been tied to severe decline in bee populations and now it appears the damage is more widespread.

Pesticide Exposure Linked to Teen Depression in Agricultural Communities

Adolescents exposed to elevated levels of pesticides are at an increased risk of depression, according to a new study led by Jose R. Suarez-Lopez, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at University of California San Diego School of Medicine. The study was published online (ahead of print) in June 2019 in the journal International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.

Feldvögel sterben aus

Schon 20 Feldvogelarten, darunter Braunkehlchen, Rebhuhn, Kiebitz oder Uferschnepf, sind rund um Kassel nicht mehr zu sehen, da diese Arten bereits ausgestorben sind. „Und um den Neuntöter ist es auch schon schlecht bestellt, ebenso um die Feldlerche, den Vogel des Jahres 2019“, sagen Manfred Henkel und Martin Lange vom Nabu Kaufungen-Lohfelden. Im Landkreis sei ihr Bestand dramatisch gesunken. Die beiden Naturschützer läuten Alarm. Nachdem vor rund einem Jahr das Insektensterben in den Medien ein großes Thema war, sind es nun die Feldvögel.

Autisme, QI en baisse et pesticides : tout comprendre du scandale du chlorpyrifos

Le chlorpyrifos, un insecticide toxique toujours autorisé dans l'Union européenne, est associé à des déficits de QI chez l'enfant, à des lésions cérébrales et à une augmentation de la fréquence de l'autisme chez les nouveaux-nés. Sciences et Avenir fait le point sur ce nouveau scandale sanitaire.

Insecticide chloorpyrifos blijkt ook in fruit en groenten te zitten

De pesticiden chloorpyrifos en chloorpyrifos-methyl worden aangetroffen in 5,5 procent van alle onderzochte voedingsstalen in de EU. Dat blijkt uit gegevens van het Europese Voedselveiligheidsagentschap die in Knack staan. De komende maanden beslist Europa of de pesticiden van de markt moeten verdwijnen. Het pesticide chloorpyrifos wordt gebruikt om gewassen zoals kolen, fruit en groenten te beschermen tegen onder meer koolvliegen, aardrupsen en larven van langpootmuggen en kevers. Chloorpyrifos is actueel omdat de huidige EU-toelating voor het pesticide afloopt op 31 januari 2020.