scholarly journals Peer Review #2 of "Rapid rise in toxic load for bees revealed by analysis of pesticide use in Great Britain (v0.1)"

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Rapid Rise ◽  
Toxic Load

scholarly journals Identifying agricultural pesticides that may pose a risk for birds

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9526
Author(s):  
Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu ◽  
Dave Goulson
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
The Other ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Corn Bunting ◽  
Agricultural Pesticides ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Agricultural Use ◽  
Toxic Load ◽  
Active Substances

In this study, we analyze changing patterns of pesticide use in agriculture in Great Britain over the 1990–2016 period, with respect to the risk they pose to birds. The weight of pesticides applied decreased by 51% between 1990 and 2016, but the area treated increased by 63% over the same period. Over this period, there has been considerable turnover in the pesticides used. The European Union (including Great Britain until 2020) has restricted or banned many pesticides for agricultural use, including organophosphates and carbamates. However, new generations of active substances have been introduced, such as the neonicotinoids, some of which have since been banned. In this analysis, we estimate the annual ‘toxic load’ of agricultural pesticide use in Great Britain for birds, measured as the total number of LD50 doses for corn buntings, Emberiza calandra. We have previously performed similar analyses for bees, for which the total toxic load increased six-fold during this period. In contrast, for birds the total toxic load fell by 80.5%, although still correspond to 8.3e+11 corn bunting LD50 doses in 2016. The decrease in toxicity is largely due to declining use of highly toxic organophosphates in recent years. We identify the pesticides in current use that may pose the highest risk to birds, which include a mix of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, molluscicides, acaricides and plant growth regulators. The insecticide ethoprop was ranked highest in 2016, with a toxic load of 71 billion potential corn bunting kills. Some of the other chemicals presenting a high toxic load, such as the herbicide chlormequat, are not highly toxic to birds (in terms of LD50) but are used in very large quantities. However, it is important to stress that, in reality, only a tiny proportion of pesticides applied will be ingested by birds, and this will vary according to timing and method of application, persistence of the active substance and many other factors. We further note that impacts of pesticides on birds might often be indirect, for example via depleting their food supply, and that sublethal impacts may occur at much lower doses than the LD50, neither of which do we investigate here. Nonetheless, we suggest that this is a useful approach to highlight pesticides that might be worth closer study with regard to possible impacts.

scholarly journals From Meeting Presentation to Peer-Review Publication – a UK Review

2006 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
AR Weale ◽  
AG Edwards ◽  
PA Lear ◽  
JDT Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Impact Factor ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Similar Rate ◽  
Publication Rate ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Transplantation Society

INTRODUCTION Annual academic surgical meetings provide a forum for the discussion of research. For the wide-spread dissemination of this information, peer-reviewed publication is required. The aim of this study was to compare the amount of presentations which go on to publication from 4 UK-based surgical meetings. MATERIALS AND METHODS We determined whether a presentation had led to a successful publication using PubMed, a median of 28 months following each meeting. We compared the ASGBI publication rate with the meetings of the Vascular Surgical Society (VSSGBI), the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) and the British Transplantation Society (BTS). We also compared the median impact factor of journals used. RESULTS The ASGBI and BTS had a similar rate of presentations resulting in publication, with 35% and 36% at 2 years, respectively. The VSS had a significantly greater proportion of presentations resulting in publication (54% at 2 years; P = 0.004), whilst the ACPGBI had significant fewer (24% at 2 years; P = 0.006). There was no difference in the median impact factors of the journals used between the meetings (Kruskal Wallis P = 0.883). CONCLUSIONS There is a significant variation between meetings in terms of turning presentations into publications. However, the majority of abstracts have still not been fully published within 2 years of presentation at the meeting.

scholarly journals Rapid rise in toxic load for bees revealed by analysis of pesticide use in Great Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Goulson ◽  
Jack Thompson ◽  
Amy Croombs
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Mode Of Application ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Arable Farmland

A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms is much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 x 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, that will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.

scholarly journals Rapid rise in toxic load for bees revealed by analysis of pesticide use in Great Britain

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Goulson ◽  
Jack Thompson ◽  
Amy Croombs
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Mode Of Application ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Arable Farmland

A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms are much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 × 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to stress that this does not mean that this number of bees will be killed, and also to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, which will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.

scholarly journals Prospective Investigation of Pesticide Applicators’ Health (PIPAH) study: a cohort study of professional pesticide users in Great Britain

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. e018212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Helen Harding ◽  
David Fox ◽  
Yiqun Chen ◽  
Neil Pearce ◽  
David Fishwick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Pesticide Exposure ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
Incidence And Mortality ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
National Databases ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to monitor the exposure and health of workers in Great Britain who use pesticides as a part of their job, and to gain a better understanding of the relationship between long-term exposure to pesticides and health.ParticipantsStudy participants are professional pesticide users who are certified in the safe use of pesticides or who were born before 1965 and apply pesticides under ‘grandfather rights’. Overall response rate was 20%; participants are mostly male (98%) and the average age is 54 years, ranging from 17 to over 80 years.Findings to dateParticipants have completed a baseline general questionnaire and three follow-up questionnaires on the use of pesticides. These data will enable investigations into the relationship between occupational pesticide exposure and health outcomes taking into account non-occupational confounding factors.Future plansThere is no set end date for data collection. Recruitment into the cohort will continue, and for the foreseeable future there will be annual pesticide use questionnaires and five yearly follow-up general questionnaires.The intention is to validate the pesticide use questionnaire, and to develop a crop/job exposure matrix (C/JEM) which can be updated regularly. This C/JEM will be able to look at general categories of pesticide, such as insecticides, structurally related pesticides, such as organochlorines, or individual active ingredients. Data collected on use of personal protective equipment and method of application will provide information on how potential exposure to pesticide during application may have been modified. The study will be able to estimate changes in individual pesticide use over time, and to examine the associations between pesticide use and both baseline and long-term health outcomes.The cohort members will be linked to national databases for notification of hospital episode statistics, cancer incidence and mortality for follow-up of health outcomes.

scholarly journals Rapid rise in toxic load for bees revealed by analysis of pesticide use in Great Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Goulson ◽  
Jack Thompson ◽  
Amy Croombs
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Pesticide Use ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Horticultural Crops ◽  
Mode Of Application ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
Arable Farmland

A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms is much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 x 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, that will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.

Peer review of a dental curriculum: how one school did it

1976 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 761-762
Author(s):  
PK Morse ◽  
TR Dirksen
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Dental Curriculum
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