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 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

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 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 Development of a Rapid Risk and Impact Assessment Tool to Enhance Response to Environmental Emergencies in the Early Stages of a Disaster: A Tool Developed by the European Multiple Environmental Threats Emergency NETwork (EMETNET) Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma-Jane Goode ◽  
Eirian Thomas ◽  
Owen Landeg ◽  
Raquel Duarte-Davidson ◽  
Lisbeth Hall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Protection Mechanism ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Environmental Disasters ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
The Impact

AbstractEvery year, numerous environmental disasters and emergencies occur across the globe with far-reaching impacts on human health and the environment. The ability to rapidly assess an environmental emergency to mitigate potential risks and impacts is paramount. However, collating the necessary evidence in the early stages of an emergency to conduct a robust risk assessment is a major challenge. This article presents a methodology developed to help assess the risks and impacts during the early stages of such incidents, primarily to support the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism but also the wider global community in the response to environmental emergencies. An online rapid risk and impact assessment tool has also been developed to promote enhanced collaboration between experts who are working remotely, considering the impact of a disaster on the environment and public health in the short, medium, and long terms. The methodology developed can support the appropriate selection of experts and assets to be deployed to affected regions to ensure that potential public health and environmental risks and impacts are mitigated whenever possible. This methodology will aid defensible decision making, communication, planning, and risk management, and presents a harmonized understanding of the associated impacts of an environmental emergency.

scholarly journals The North Caucasus Region as a Blind Spot in the “European Green Deal”: Energy Supply Security and Energy Superpower Russia

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
José Antonio Peña-Ramos ◽  
Philipp Bagus ◽  
Dmitri Amirov-Belova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
The European Union ◽  
North Caucasus ◽  
Strong Argument ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Energy Supply Security

The “European Green Deal” has ambitious aims, such as net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. While the European Union aims to make its energies greener, Russia pursues power-goals based on its status as a geo-energy superpower. A successful “European Green Deal” would have the up-to-now underestimated geopolitical advantage of making the European Union less dependent on Russian hydrocarbons. In this article, we illustrate Russian power-politics and its geopolitical implications by analyzing the illustrative case of the North Caucasus, which has been traditionally a strategic region for Russia. The present article describes and analyses the impact of Russian intervention in the North Caucasian secessionist conflict since 1991 and its importance in terms of natural resources, especially hydrocarbons. The geopolitical power secured by Russia in the North Caucasian conflict has important implications for European Union’s energy supply security and could be regarded as a strong argument in favor of the “European Green Deal”.

scholarly journals Operational USLE-Based Modelling of Soil Erosion in Czech Republic, Austria, and Bavaria—Differences in Model Adaptation, Parametrization, and Data Availability

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3647
Author(s):  
Peter Fiener ◽  
Tomáš Dostál ◽  
Josef Krása ◽  
Elmar Schmaltz ◽  
Peter Strauss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Soil Erosion ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Specific Knowledge ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
Implementation Techniques ◽  
Consistent Method

In the European Union, soil erosion is identified as one of the main environmental threats, addressed with a variety of rules and regulations for soil and water conservation. The by far most often officially used tool to determine soil erosion is the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and its regional adaptions. The aim of this study is to use three different regional USLE-based approaches in three different test catchments in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria to determine differences in model results and compare these with the revised USLE-base European soil erosion map. The different regional model adaptations and implementation techniques result in substantial differences in test catchment specific mean erosion (up to 75% difference). Much more pronounced differences were modelled for individual fields. The comparison of the region-specific USLE approaches with the revised USLE-base European erosion map underlines the problems and limitations of harmonization procedures. The EU map limits the range of modelled erosion and overall shows a substantially lower mean erosion compared to all region-specific approaches. In general, the results indicate that even if many EU countries use USLE technology as basis for soil conservation planning, a truly consistent method does not exist, and more efforts are needed to homogenize the different methods without losing the USLE-specific knowledge developed in the different regions over the last decades.

A New Look at Child Health

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-636
Author(s):  
THOMAS E. CONE
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Child Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Changing Patterns ◽  
New Look

This little paperback book is a gem which may escape the attention of readers on this side of the Atlantic because it deals mainly with the state of contemporary pediatrics in Great Britain. For us not to be aware of this book would be a mistake; many of the problems and shortcomings which Drs. Joseph and MacKeith discuss are equally germane to the United States. The authors attempt to define in 11 chapters such elusive things as just what pediatrics really is, what are the crucial current problems, how the changing patterns of death and morbidity in childhood have altered the demands on pediatricians, and—throughout the book as a leitmotiv—how to make medical students and physicians more aware of preventive aspects of medicine.

Chaetomium strumarium. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Minter
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Host Range ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Canary Islands ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Horticultural Crops

Abstract C. strumarium is described and illustrated. Information on diseases caused by C. strumarium, host range (field and horticultural crops, trees, dung, man and artefacts), geographical distribution (Algeria, Canary Islands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gambia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, USA, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Western Australia, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Israel, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia), and transmission is provided.

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