Art: Pesticides

Saturday, 10 August 2013

Pesticides Contaminating Critters in California’s National Parks

Becky Oskin
Live Science
July 26, 2013

Pesticides from California’s valley farms are collecting in the tissues of a singing treefrog that lives in pristine national parks, including Yosemite and Giant Sequoia, a new study finds.

The chemicals include two fungicides never before found in wild frogs, said Kelly Smalling, lead study author and a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research hydrologist. The study was published today (July 26) in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

“Fungicides have been registered for use for many years, but for some reason, they haven’t really been on anybody’s radar screen until recently,” said Smalling, who is based at the USGS California Water Sciences Center in Sacramento.

This article was posted: Friday, July 26, 2013 at 4:15 pm

Tags: environment, science, technology

View the original article here

Pesticides slash water life by 42 percent: study

AFP
June 21, 2013

Pesticides may kill off water insects and other small aquatic life by as much as 42 percent, according to an analysis of German, French and Australian rivers and streams published on Monday.

The study in US journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to compare regional biodiversity in polluted versus less polluted water, said scientists at the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

Freshwater invertebrates and aquatic insects were 42 percent less common in strongly contaminated areas in Europe compared to less polluted areas; and in Australia, a difference of 27 percent was found across regions.

This article was posted: Friday, June 21, 2013 at 10:38 am

Tags: environment, science

View the original article here