#Risk assessment for pesticides in EU unsuitable for use in fieldthe method used to approve pesticides in the EU needs to be revised.
According to the study the level of fungicides measured in surface waters is often much higher than the level predicted by the current calculation model used in the approval process.
Last year a study by the Institute on insecticides had a similarly alarming conclusion. Almost half of all pesticides used in the EU are fungicides.
As they are used normally as a preventive measure they are applied routinely in larger quantities particularly in wine growing.
When it rains for instance the pesticides are washed into rivers and lakes where in higher concentrations they can result in effects on aquatic organisms.
This is because many fungicides do not specifically combat fungi but prevent general processes in cells such as energy production
or cell mitosis. In order to calculate the concentrations of pesticides in surface waters when applied correctly in agriculture the EU has been using mathematical simulation models (FOCUS models) since the end of the 1990s.
A pesticide may only be approved in Europe if the concentrations predicted by the model are below the environmentally acceptable threshold.
The Institute for Environmental sciences Landau already proved last year that there is no statistical or even apparent correlation between theory and practice for insecticides.
and this number was even higher for newer insecticides. The research group led by Prof. Dr. Ralf Schulz has compared now 417 measured field concentrations of fungicides in surface waters
and sediments with the environmental concentrations predicted by FOCUS. In 12 to 23 percent of cases the actual measured field concentrations in waters were higher.
Taking only the 90th percentile concentration and only EU studies into account the error rates are as high as 43 percent and therefore even higher than for insecticides.
and animal life in surface waters nor do they predict properly the level of fungicide concentrations actually found later in surface waters explains Prof Dr. Ralf Schulz of the Institute for Environmental sciences Landau of the University of Koblenz-Landau.
Compared to insecticides and herbicides relatively little is known about the effects of fungicides on ecosystems.
Initial studies indicate though that they may possibly have a strong effect on amphibians such as frogs.
The differences between the measured and calculated concentrations might be due not just to an unsuitable calculation model but also the incorrect application of pesticides by farmers or the publication of inadequate application instructions by manufacturers.
either for insecticides or fungicides adds Schulz. The FOCUS predictions have therefore proven to be unreliable for use in the field
In any case based on the concentrations of pesticides actually measured their approval and application guidelines should be revised and where applicable modified after a few years.
Accordingly we need data on the pollution of surface waters with pesticides to be collected regularly and independently in Germany as well.
Scientists are looking at its biology behavior food and odor preferences and pesticide resistance. Many researchers are working hard to study the biology of this insect through basic and applied projects
and cast Joanna Chiu as a central figure in future Drosophila suzukii genomic studies related to topics such as insecticide detoxification odorant reception and regulatory entomology Zalom
The cryptic feeding habits of these species combined with a lack of effective systemic insecticides make billbug control extremely difficult in orchardgrass.
New management tools insecticides or otherwise are required to effectively control this pest. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Entomological Society of America.
Sediments from frequently flooded agricultural lands often carry pesticides and fertilizers the latter associated with the formation of the hypoxic (low oxygen) dead zone in the Gulf of mexico.
Their discoveries described in a paper published online today in Cell include identification of a molecule that protects neurons from pesticide damage.
For the first time we have used human stem cells derived from Parkinson's disease patients to show that a genetic mutation combined with exposure to pesticides creates a'double hit'scenario producing free radicals in neurons that disable specific molecular pathways that cause nerve-cell death
Until now the link between pesticides and Parkinson's disease was based mainly on animal studies and epidemiological research that demonstrated an increased risk of disease among farmers rural populations
and mutant neurons to pesticides--including paraquat maneb or rotenone--created excessive free radicals in cells with the mutation causing damage to dopamine-containing neurons that led to cell death said Frank Soldner M d. research scientist in Jaenisch's lab
In fact we observed the detrimental effects of these pesticides with short exposures to doses well below EPA-accepted levels said Scott Ryan Ph d. researcher in the Del E. Webb Center
Having access to genetically matched neurons with the exception of a single mutation simplified the interpretation of the genetic contribution to pesticide-induced neuronal death.
when exposed to pesticides disrupt a key mitochondrial pathway--called MEF2C-PGC1ALPHA--that normally protects neurons that contain dopamine.
The free radicals attacked the MEF2C protein leading to the loss of function of this pathway that would otherwise have protected the nerve cells from the pesticides.
and the molecules that were altered by the pesticides we used high-throughput screening to identify molecules that could inhibit the effect of free radicals on the pathway said Ambasudhan.
which mutant neurons from cell death induced by the tested pesticides. Since several FDA-approved drugs contain derivatives of isoxazole our findings may have potential clinical implications for repurposing these drugs to treat Parkinson's.
and consider use of a rootworm soil insecticide during planting. -Consider using corn that contains different Bt proteins than ones that may have performed poorly in the past.
and corn containing multiple Bt proteins is not available suppression of rootworm adults by using insecticides for one
rotation of Bt proteins and the use of soil insecticides at planting with a non-Bt hybrid.
Through funding from the Department of agriculture the researchers are beginning to examine the effects of viruses pesticides
There is also an ongoing study that looks at the effects of long acting acaricides against ticks.
The usage of acaricides against ticks is widespread but we question whether it is right to utilise them as it is seems that lambs are infected despite the use of such remedies.
and humans and is on the EU's positive list for pesticides. Similar products are already for sale in most parts of the world.
In agriculture pesticide treatments preferably in the control of diseases caused by pathogenic fungi as Botrytis cinerea and Fusarium oxysporum.
#Endometriosis risk linked to two pesticidesa Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center-led study has found that two organochlorine pesticides are associated with an increased risk of endometriosis a condition that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive
Specifically researchers observed that women with higher exposures to two such pesticides beta-hexachlorocyclohexane and mirex had a 30-to 70-percent increase in endometriosis risk.
Since endometriosis is driven an estrogen condition we were interested in investigating the role of environmental chemicals that have estrogenic properties such as organochlorine pesticides on the risk of the disease she said.
despite organochlorine pesticides being restricted in use or banned in the U s. for the past several decades these chemicals were detectable in the blood samples of women in our study
Organochlorine pesticides have demonstrated generally estrogenic properties in laboratory studies of human tissue and adverse reproductive effects in laboratory studies of other model organisms altering the function of the uterus
and ovaries as well as hormone production Given these actions it's plausible that organochlorine pesticides could increase the risk of an estrogen-driven disease such as endometriosis Upson said.
#Male birth defect weakly linked to pesticide exposurea study of several hundred chemicals used in commercial pesticides has found only weak evidence that any of them are associated with a common birth defect in male infants.
The study led by epidemiologists at the Stanford university School of medicine analyzed thousands of birth records and commercial pesticide application records for eight counties in California's heavily agricultural Central Valley.
if their mothers had lived in relatively close proximity to where pesticides were used while pregnant. Hypospadias is a genital malformation in
Most previous studies of pesticides and hypospadias focused on risks associated with occupations that involve the use of pesticides.
whose mothers or fathers work around pesticides but many studies suggest no association. The researchers worked with data on births in the counties of Fresno Kern Kings Madera Merced San Joaquin Stanislaus and Tulare.
and Sacramento valleys has one of the highest rates of pesticide usage in the nationthe study population included all male infants born from 1991 to 2004 to mothers residing in any of the eight counties at the time of birth.
The study sample comprised 690 cases of hypospadias as well as 2195 controls randomly selected for comparison The researchers considered pesticides used within 500 meters of the mother's residence during weeks one to 14 of each pregnancy.
but found no evidence to suggest that mothers'exposures to multiple pesticides put their babies at an increased risk of hypospadias.
In the U s. the growing use of genetically-modified herbicide-tolerant crops such as corn and soybeans has resulted in severe milkweed declines and thus loss of breeding habitat.
Unfortunately many plants purchased by gardeners have been treated with systemic insecticides that can kill both pollinators that consume the nectar
This study shows that not only might consumers pay more for monarch-friendly milkweeds grown without systemic insecticides in the potting soil
or sediment was resistant to insecticides used in agricultural areas of central California. The study is the first to demonstrate that the indicator species may adapt to polluted conditions of a habitat
Our study documented the specific genetic changes that allow the amphipods to survive at 500-times the normal lethal dose of the pesticide says Wellborn.
Insecticides for agricultural crops are regulated by the Environmental protection agency but runoff during rains can enter a lake pond
and adapted to the widely used pyrethroid insecticides--a principle known as adaptive evolution. As reported in this study the resistant H. azteca was no longer reliable as a bioindicator
and pesticides that were banned in the U s. in the 1970s and'80s. Their analysis appears in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
The researchers were surprised to find that average concentrations of one of the compounds they analyzed dieldrin--an insecticide
(and byproduct of the pesticide aldrin) that was used across the Midwest before it was banned in 1987--exceeded those measured in eight river otters collected in Illinois from 1984 to 1989.
Liver concentrations of PCBS and DDE (the latter a breakdown product of the banned pesticide DDT) were similar to those in the earlier study the researchers report.
which transmits devastating diseases to cattle has developed resistance to one of the main pesticides used to kill it.
Prevention of disease is through frequent treatment of cattle with acarides-pesticides for ticks and mites--mainly amitraz ivermectins and pyrethroids but ticks have become increasingly resistant to these treatments.
and associated acaricide application is estimated to be more than £4 billion annually. Now scientists at the University of Glasgow have identified the genetic basis for at least one form of resistance to amitraz
Resistance to all the main acaricides is documented well--for example amitraz resistance is seen in about 20%of Australian tick populations and more than 50%of Mexican ticks.
When resistance is found farmers generally increase the frequency of acaricide treatment resulting in increased cost and sometimes undesirable effects on the environment.
The most common response to the diagnosis of acaricide resistance on a farm is to change acaricide classes
There are many theories as to how acaricide resistance can be delayed or accelerated in practice. It has been suggested that rotating between acaricide classes using mixtures of acaricides preserving refugia of untreated populations
and using tick-resistant cattle might all delay the development of resistance. However without empirical studies to test the value of the management strategies it is really impossible to provide evidence-based recommendations to farmers.
when bees are exposed to low levels of neonicotinoid pesticides --which do not directly kill bees--their behaviour changes
The results showed that exposure to pesticides at levels bees encounter in the field has subtle impacts on individual bees
and die we've made a crucial step in being able to link bee declines to pesticides
Exposing bees to pesticides is a bit like adding more and more weight on someone's shoulders. A person can keep walking normally under a bit of weight
Pesticides can have a detrimental effect on bees at levels used in the field said co-author Dr Nigel Raine.
The way we test pesticides the way we assess their impact on bees and the way we manage pesticides can all be improved.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Royal Holloway University of London. Note:
#Genetically modified sweet corn can reduce insecticide usea new study finds that genetically-modified sweet corn is better for the environment
because it requires fewer pesticide applications than conventional corn. Our data suggest that using Bt sweet corn will dramatically reduce the use of traditional insecticides the authors wrote.
Based on the performance of Bt field corn growers should realize increased profits and there will be less risk to nontarget organisms including natural enemies that help suppress pest densities.
The authors found that for pest management of the corn earworm Bt sweet corn consistently performed better than its non-Bt counterparts even those that were sprayed with conventional insecticides.
and even with eight conventional insecticide sprays the non-Bt corn had only 18 percent marketable ears.
The use of Bt vegetables could significantly reduce the use of conventional insecticides and in turn reduce occupational and environmental risks that arise from intensive insecticide use Shelton said.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Entomological Society of America. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and the initiation of pigmentation not only controls the quality of the fruit it also determines the level of pesticide use.
#Health of honey bees adversely impacted by seleniumtraditionally honey bee research has focused on environmental stressors such as pesticides pathogens and diseases.
#Insect repellent: Scientists find insect DEET receptors, develop safe alternatives to DEETINSECTS are repelled by NN-diethyl-m-toluamide also known as DEET.
This research too may lead to the development of more effective insect repellents. Specifically the researchers used their computational approach to study the interactions between 24 odorant receptors in Drosophila antennae
and the bacteria are resistant to being grown in the laboratory the only option for halting transmission of citrus greening has been to apply chemical pesticides to control the insect that spreads the bacteria Dandekar said.
and shrubs as well as the increased use of herbicides all of which result in a dramatic decrease in biodiversity.
#Pesticide regulation in California is flawedapproximately 30 million pounds of fumigant pesticides are used each year on soil that yields valuable California crops--strawberries tomatoes peppers and the like--in an attempt to control pests.
Responsibility for the safety of pesticides must be evaluated and approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation in a process known as registration.
A new report issued by UCLA's Sustainable Technology and Policy Program a joint program of the Fielding School of Public health and the School of law shows that in at least one case the system failed by approving a chemical called methyl iodide for use on strawberries.
and cause fetal death at low doses. Combined with a second fumigant chloropicrin methyl iodide was introduced as a substitute for methyl bromide a widely used pesticide slated for phase out by 2015 due to its ozone-depleting properties.
The Department of Pesticide Regulation approved its use in December 2010 despite opposition from scientists environmental organizations and farmworker groups.
Evaluating Pesticide Approval in California identifies a variety of deficits in the agency's registration process
and makes recommendations to improve pesticide regulation in California. Using the approval of methyl iodide as a case study the authors examined the risk-governance approach used during the approval process comparing it to best practices in regulatory settings including risk-assessment practices developed by the National Research Council.
They drew upon letters hearing transcripts reports internal Department of Pesticide Regulation memos and other documents and analyzed the scientific social and legal dimensions of pesticide registration in California.
In addition to highlighting the deficits in the agency's process the report makes a number of recommendations aimed at better protecting public health including:
In this case despite the laudable efforts of the Department of Pesticide Regulation staff scientists a variety of factors stood in the way of that.
These are issues that must be addressed to ensure appropriate pesticide regulation in California. Pesticide regulation in California is flawed said UCLA School of law professor Timothy Malloy a faculty director of the Sustainable Technology and Policy Program and one of the report's authors.
Until we find safer alternatives to chemical pesticides it is extremely important that the evaluation of new pesticides is thorough.
If consumers workers and the environment are to be protected from the adverse effects of pesticides the approval process needs to be based on comprehensive data objective evaluation and meaningful participation of all relevant parties.
In March 2012 the manufacturer voluntarily pulled methyl iodide products from the market citing issues of economic viability.
#Modifying rice crops to resist herbicide prompts weedy neighbors growth spurtrice containing an overactive gene that makes it resistant to a common herbicide can pass that genetic trait to weedy rice prompting powerful growth even
without a weed-killer to trigger the modification benefit new research shows. Previously scientists have found that
and even more so for herbicide resistance#she said.##oebut we think we know why: It s probably because the pathway regulated by this gene is so important to the plant.#
The weed-killer glyphosate sold under the brand name Roundup kills plants by inhibiting a growth-related pathway activated by the epsps gene.
and soybeans that remain undamaged by widespread herbicide application. But in this study the researchers used a different method boosting activation of the native epsps gene in rice plants#a process called overexpressing#to give the plants enough strength to survive an application of herbicide.
Because companies that genetically modify commercial crops don t fully disclose their methods Snow and her colleagues aren t sure how prevalent this method might be now or in the future.#
By crossing genetically altered herbicide-resistant rice with weedy rice to mimic what happens naturally in the field the researchers created crop-weed hybrids that grew larger and produced more offspring than unaltered counterparts#even without any herbicide present.
#oewith most types of herbicide resistant genes there s no benefit to a wild plant unless the herbicide is sprayed.
A lot of transgenes in crop plants are either selectively neutral in wild plants or if they have a benefit it depends on environmental factors like insects diseases
or herbicides being present.##Snow has a history in this area of research. She has found that genes from crop plants can persist in related weeds over many generations.
#African caterpillars resistant to GM maizelike many other transgenic crops Bt maize synthesises its own pesticide:
The technique is effective and unlike wide spectrum pesticides it only targets larvae of moths.
However sooner or later insect species may be able to develop a mechanism of resistance against any pesticides.
In many cases they need to apply at least one pesticide spray which makes planting of Bt varieties less attractive.
and Chemistry analyses blood samples from spectacled caiman in Costa rica and finds that intensive pesticide use in plantations leads to contaminated species in protected conservation areas.
Due to the increased global demand for fruit pesticide use has doubled more than across Central america in the past twenty years.
In Costa rica which ranks second in the world for intensity of pesticide use the problem of contamination is compounded by environmental conditions and lax enforcement of regulations.
Frequent heavy rains can wash pesticides from plantation areas leading to contamination and the reapplication of sprays to the crops said Grant.
The team collected blood samples from 14 adult caiman and analyzed them for traces of 70 types of pesticide.
Caiman within the high intensity banana crop watershed of Rio Suerte had higher pesticide burdens relative to other more remote locations.
The nine pesticides detected in the caiman blood were identified as insecticides. Of these seven were listed as Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) banned under the 2011 Stockholm Convention.
Caiman near banana plantations had higher pesticide burdens and lower body condition said Grant. This suggests that either pesticides pose a health risk to caiman
or that pesticides harm the habitat and food supply of caiman thereby reducing the health of this predator.
As long-lived species atop the food chain crocodilians provide an integrated assessment of the fate of pesticides in tropical areas
and can be indicative of pesticide damage throughout the ecosystem. Caiman and other aquatic species have been exposed to pesticides from upstream banana plantations even in remote areas of a national wilderness area concluded Grant.
Banana plantations may be economically important to Costa rica; however their erosion of aquatic ecosystems highlights the need for a developed regulatory infrastructure and adequate enforcement.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wiley. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and sanding cranberry beds hand-weeding or applications of pre-and postemergence herbicides. Recent interest in reducing chemical inputs into cranberry growing systems has led researchers to evaluate alternative methods such as flame cultivation as a potential nonchemical weed control option.
and garden insecticides from wastewatereven though sewage treatment plants are designed not to remove tiny amounts of pesticides they do an excellent job of dealing with the most widely used family of home
and garden insecticides scientists have reported. Their study on pyrethroid insecticides--used in more than 3500 products--was part of the 246th National Meeting
& Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) held in Indianapolis this week. We found that advanced sewage treatment reduced the levels of pyrethroids by more than 97 percent said Kurt N. Ohlinger Ph d. who presented the results of the study.
That's a reduction to less than one part per trillion and pretty impressive. Conventional treatment processes remove about 89 percent something we knew from previous research.
They are replacing organophosphate pesticides which are more acutely toxic to birds and mammals with uses that include home insect control insect-repellant clothing dog and cat flea shampoos mosquito control and agriculture.
The growing use led Ohlinger and colleagues to check on the effectiveness of advanced sewage treatment processes in removing pyrethroids from wastewater from a sewage treatment plant.
#Australian tarantula venom contains novel insecticide against agricultural pestsspider venoms are usually toxic when injected into prey
The small protein named orally active insecticidal peptide-1 (OAIP-1) was found to be highly toxic to insects that consumed it with potency similar to that of the synthetic insecticide imidacloprid.
and several species are resistant to available insecticides. Isolated peptides from the venom of spiders or other venomous insectivorous animals such as centipedes and scorpions may have the potential to serve as bioinsecticides.
It includes presentations (abstracts appear below) on progress in developing new pesticides isolated from natural sources
and are less toxic to humans than conventional pesticides said James N. Seiber Ph d. of the University of California Davis. He co-organized the symposium with Aaron Gross and Joel Coats Ph d. both of Iowa
Burlingame cited nootkatone as an excellent example of the potential for developing new pesticides based on natural sources.
and shrug off conventional pesticides and yet would be very unlikely to harm people or pets.
and colony decline especially with regard to pesticides Fell said. He is an emeritus professor of entomology at Virginia Tech and an authority on colony decline in bees.
Some of the leading theories about the cause of CCD include the use of certain pesticides parasites diseases and overall hive nutrition.
Beekeeper and other organizations are pushing to stop the sale of certain neonicotinoids insecticides that some regard as the main culprit of CCD.
#How bedbugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with itthe bedbug's most closely guarded secrets--stashed away in protective armor that enables these bloodsucking little nasties to shrug off insecticides
and thrive in homes and hotels--are on the agenda today at a major scientific meeting in Indianapolis.
In a talk at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) scientists are describing identification of the genes responsible for pesticide-resistance in bedbugs
which includes 12 other research papers on topics ranging from pesticide resistance to monitoring chemicals in the environment to tick spit.
The surprise discovery we never expected is that most of the genes responsible for pesticide resistance in the bedbug are active in its outer skin-like shell or cuticle.
Zhu of Washington state University and colleagues who are with the University of Kentucky quickly realized that the location was the ideal spot for genes that mute the effects of pyrethroid insecticides--today's mainstay home
and garden pesticides. The bodies of bedbugs she explained are extremely flat before the creatures slurp up a meal of human blood.
But it also creates a vulnerability to environmental toxins giving bedbugs an unusually large surface area where pesticides can enter their bodies.
But research by Zhu's team and others has established that it's also a metabolic hot spot to protect against insecticides.
Some genes in the cuticle for instance produce substances that tear apart the molecular backbone of insecticides rendering them harmless.
Other genes manufacture biological pumps that literally pump insecticides back out of the cuticle before they can enter the body.
Zhu's team sifted through the bedbug's genome--its complete set of genes--to identify the genes responsible for this pesticide resistance.
It enabled us to perform quickly an analysis that would have taken years in the 1990s--a genome-wide analysis of the insecticide-resistance related genes in bedbugs.
They found 14 genes that in various combinations help bedbugs survive pesticide treatments with pyrethroid-type insecticides.
and block or slow an insecticide from reaching the nerve cells where it can kill. In addition to this first-line of defense Zhu's team discovered that bedbugs have developed a second layer of protection.
In case insecticides slip past the armor other genes kick in to prevent the toxins from attacking the nervous system.
Zhu said the findings suggest that development of new pesticides should focus on chemicals that shut down or mute genes in the cuticle that thwart today's pesticides.
New pesticides alone however will not be enough to cope with the bedbug resurgence. Zhu cited evidence that bedbugs in laboratory colonies exposed to lethal doses of pyrethroids begin to develop resistance within a few generations
It reminds us how quickly a new insecticide can become ineffective she said. In the future efficient bedbug management should not rely on any single insecticide.
We need to combine as many chemical and non-chemical approaches as we have to get rid of the infestation.
She cited specifically integrated pest management for bedbugs approaches in which careful use of pesticides combines with other common-sense measures.
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