(Beyond Pesticides, June 26, 2026) In a study published in Aquatic Toxicology, researchers in Brazil determined that the cumulative toxicity of acetamiprid (a neonicotinoid insecticide) and cyanobacteria (photosynthetic microbes that can produce toxins) has a synergistic effect on the health of aquatic water fleas, or Daphnia. The implications of these findings paint a troubling picture for broader aquatic food webs, as they serve as a bridge species across trophic levels, serving as a primary consumer of plants and algae while also providing energy to secondary and tertiary consumers up the chain. In this context, public health and environmental advocates argue that the combined toxicity of synthetic agrichemicals and naturally occurring toxins is often considered an externality (external cost) borne by the public rather than a direct cost of agricultural production or nonagricultural pest management. “When ecosystems are undermined, so are the economic systems that are relied upon to grow food,” says Max Sano, senior policy and coalitions associate at Beyond Pesticides. “The need for a wholesale transition to organic land management acknowledges this fundamental mismatch and seeks to account for these discrepancies, although policy must ensure that organic farmers have the resources they need to thrive.” Methodology and Main Findings […]

(Beyond Pesticides, June 10, 2026) Adding to the wide body of science connecting the weed killer paraquat to deleterious health and environmental effects, Investigate Midwest recently released an investigative news article connecting air emissions of paraquat from chemical plants in the Mississippi Basin to Parkinson’s disease, among other adverse health effects. The herbicide is also fatal to humans with a single sip, as documented in the article, entitled “This herbicide is so toxic it’s been banned in over 70 countries. But plants in the South are releasing it into the air.”  In capturing the story of Wayne County, Mississippi, where approximately 20,000 people live surrounded by forest and farmland, Investigate Midwest sheds light on the connection between the Sipcam Agro plant that processes and emits paraquat. The plant is located in the county with among the highest U.S. rates of Parkinson’s disease deaths, the top 7% of all U.S. counties.  Background on Paraquat  Paraquat has been on the market since the 1960s, created by a predecessor of Syngenta. In March of this year, Syngenta announced it would stop producing paraquat in the UK after thousands of lawsuits, primarily by farmers and farmworkers, cite Syngenta’s failure to warn of adverse health effects like Parkinson’s disease. Stopping the production of paraquat in the UK will not prevent paraquat from entering the U.S., as “other companies and other facilities—like the one in Wayne County—will fill the gap, likely increasing the amount of paraquat they handle.”  According to previous data from the U.S. Geological Survey, approximately 11 to 17 million pounds of paraquat were sprayed annually in 2017, which may […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 13, 2026) Published in Toxics, a review finds that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can heighten the risks to exposed organisms from environmental contaminants. Mixtures of these compounds can negatively impact the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and reproductive systems, particularly in aquatic organisms, and threaten overall biodiversity. The review highlights synergistic effects (greater in combination) observed in mixtures, such as PFAS with pesticides and microplastics, that can cause enhanced oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, developmental defects, and reproductive dysfunction, among others. “The objectives were to evaluate the toxicological effects of mixtures of the selected contaminants with PFAS on aquatic organisms to better understand biological responses in animals,” the study authors explain. “Based on our review, data suggest that PFAS can modify the toxicity of co-occurring pollutants.” Background PFAS were first created in the 1930s and have since been used in many industries and in the production of many products. The multitude of PFAS sources and exposure routes leads to widespread contamination of the environment and organisms. PFAS in agriculture represents a large source, as PFAS can be pesticide active ingredients, used in the plastic containers that pesticides are stored in, and as surfactants in pesticide products. Additionally, PFAS are used in many other […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 11, 2026) As studies stack up on adverse synergistic effects of chemical mixtures, serious deficiencies in the regulatory review of pesticides have come into sharp focus. As the hazards are shown to escalate and the regulatory review process is shown to fall short, public health advocates are telling Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services that they must consider the effects of pesticides in the context in which they are used and with reference to the organic alternative.  A recent study in Toxics reviewed the current literature on pesticides, microplastics, or metal exposure in combination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on aquatic vertebrates and invertebrates, finding that PFAS can modify, including intensify, the toxicity of co-occurring pollutants.   A commentary in Frontiers in Toxicology, by  Maricel Maffini, PhD, and Laura Vandenberg, PhD,  notes, “Current approaches also rely on the assumption that testing chemicals one at a time is appropriate to understand how chemicals act under real-world conditions. Numerous mixture studies, including ones that demonstrated cumulative effects, have disproven this assumption.”   As noted by the naturalist, writer, and conservationist John Muir, known as the “Father of the National Parks,” and those before and after him, including the English poet John Donne, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, May 6, 2026) Adding to the wide body of science highlighting the adverse effects of pesticides on pollinators, as extensively documented in Daily News and What the Science Shows on Biodiversity, a study published in Insects finds threats to Italian honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica) following exposure to insecticides with contrasting toxicity levels. Both the high toxicity and low toxicity compounds impact honey bee gut bacteria and gut microbial composition, showing how even “reduced risk” insecticides can have sublethal effects and jeopardize pollinator health. As the authors point out, “Honey bees depend on a small but highly specialized community of gut bacteria that help them digest food, resist infections, and cope with environmental stress.” Because of this, chemicals that disrupt the honey bee gut microbiome can threaten their survival. In the current study, the researchers analyze two compounds to determine adverse impacts on honey bees’ gut microbiota: emamectin benzoate-lufenuron (EB-LFR), an avermectin insecticide with high toxicity, and RH-5849 (1,2-dibenzoyl-1-tert-butylhydrazine), a non-steroidal ecdysone agonist (mimicking the action of the insect molting hormone) and insect growth regulator with reported lower toxicity. The results reveal that both toxicity levels can harm gut microbial composition, with EB-LFR “associated with observed reductions in […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 28, 2026) In Chemical Research in Toxicology, researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Catalonia, Spain highlight the threats to human and environmental health with “combined exposures to multiple chemical toxicants, including industrial chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).” As these compounds are encountered in mixtures in real-world settings, the resulting interaction can have additive or synergistic effects that risk assessments fail to adequately capture. As the authors point out: “This leads to a systematic underestimation of health risks, particularly for vulnerable populations. Despite robust evidence on mixture toxicity, major regulatory frameworks such as the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the EU’s [European Union] REACH program continue to assess chemicals in isolation.” Importance and Background Environmental toxicants are ubiquitous throughout nature and within all organisms. In humans, these compounds can accumulate, referred to as ‘Body Burden’, which encompasses numerous chemicals such as pesticide mixtures. “Critically, organisms are rarely exposed to a single chemical in isolation,” the researchers note. “Rather, they continuously encounter complex mixtures of contaminants whose combined effects may differ substantially from those predicted by examining each substance individually.” As the authors explain, regulatory agencies underestimate […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 24, 2026) In a review of scientific literature documenting pesticide contamination in the atmosphere, international researchers find human and ecosystem exposure even in remote and distant areas. As published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, the authors state: “Atmospheric transport of pesticides is a globally significant yet widely underestimated driver of human and ecological exposure, with contamination documented far beyond treated fields. This review provides a novel integrated synthesis, bridging emission pathways, atmospheric transformation processes, monitoring evidence, model limitations, and regulatory gaps to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the fate and impacts of pesticides in the atmosphere.” In analyzing the current knowledge on pesticide emissions, through both drift and volatilization (process where a solid or liquid converts into a gas or vapor), the researchers highlight “the widespread detection of both current-use and banned pesticides in environmental matrices far from their application,” along with the resulting implications for human health and environmental health. As the current risk assessment framework “fails to adequately address the perturbations caused by the atmospheric transport of pesticides,” the urgent need to transition away from chemical-intensive practices grows stronger. Background While this review highlights regulatory gaps in the European Union (EU), the cited scientific […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 15, 2026) Researchers in the Czech Republic tested indoor dust across 116 homes and found that 93 percent of homes across urban and rural areas contained residue of at least one current-use pesticide (CUP). The study also found in every household residues of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and pentachlorobenzene (PeCB), the breakdown products or byproducts of certain banned organochlorine pesticides (OCP). These compounds, as well as DDT metabolites DDE and DDD, were detected in more than half of the homes tested. Results in this study and previous research confirm that pesticides used outdoors find their way indoors, resulting in an exposure pattern that is not calculated when pesticides are registered and allowed on the market. The findings are published in Indoor Environments. These findings characterize the legacy of toxic pesticide exposure resulting from the proliferation of pesticides in the United States and around the world without a complete assessment of the chemicals’ residual activity and multigenerational adverse impacts on health. Based on the decades of peer-reviewed scientific literature on pesticide exposure and effects from across the globe, public health and environmental advocates warn that there is a continuation of this pattern of long-term effects associated with new pesticides linked […]

(Beyond Pesticides, April 2, 2026) In advance of opening U.S. Supreme Court arguments in Monsanto v. Durnell, Beyond Pesticides joined an amicus brief filed yesterday and led by Center for Food Safety (CFS), which challenges Bayer/Monsanto’s position that it should not be held liable for failing to warn consumers that the use of their pesticide products could cause cancer. The chemical company giant, along with the broader chemical and agribusiness industry, argues that they should be given immunity from litigation because their products are registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a claim that is disputed in detail in the amicus brief. Groups joining the brief include Consumer Federation of America, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP), Rural Coalition, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Center for Biological Diversity, Beyond Pesticides, and Food & Water Watch.  Click to access the 17 additional amicus briefs filed in support of the respondents: Stand for Health Freedom; The American Association for Justice and Public Justice; Children’s Health Defense; 36 State Legislators; The Local Government Legal Center, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and International Municipal Lawyers Association; Former EPA Officials and Environmental Protection Network; Philip Landrigan, MD, MSc, Lianne Sheppard, PhD, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 17, 2026) An article in Microorganisms by researchers from the U.S., Israel, and Australia analyzes the adverse health and environmental effects of genetic engineering and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), specifically genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs). As the authors state, the prevalence of genetic engineering has “accelerated the creation and large-scale environmental release” of GMMs, which “present unique, long-term risks to human and environmental health.” One of the authors, André Leu, DSc, spoke at the first session of Beyond Pesticides’ National Forum Series: Forging a Future with Nature in 2023. (See recording here.) This review provides risk scenarios of GMMs, showing the threat to ecological systems, particularly within the soil, and human health. As GMMs are “biologically active, self-replicating entities capable of rapid mutation and global dispersal” they present greater risks, and current regulatory frameworks do not adequately assess their potential harm. Genetically altering microorganisms, the most complex and diverse systems in biology, and creating new gene combinations with unknown implications, “has the potential to disrupt the functions, diversity, interactions, and impacts of microbes and microbiomes,” the researchers note. They continue: “This puts human and environmental health at risk. Worst-case scenarios include the promotion of diseases, risks to species […]

(Beyond Pesticides, March 12, 2026) The science connecting pesticide exposure to neurotoxicity continues to mount. A study in Discover Toxicology highlights neurotoxic pollutants as significant environmental threats, showcasing the adverse impacts on vertebrates’ neurological health from pesticides, including organophosphates, carbamates, and organochlorines. “These substances disrupt normal neurophysiological functions by impairing neurotransmission, generating oxidative stress, provoking neuroinflammation, and initiating neuronal cell death,” the authors say. They continue, “Such disturbances are linked to cognitive deficits, motor impairments, and abnormal neural development.” Neurological conditions can manifest as headaches, muscle weakness, tremors, paralysis, coordination challenges, vision loss, hallucinations, vertigo, seizures, memory loss, slurred speech, trouble breathing with minimal exertion, and more. The range of adverse effects from low-dose, long-term exposure and low-dose (or subchronic) exposure during developmental phases of life raises serious questions about the adequacy of the regulatory review of pesticides, which focuses on acute high and lethal dose exposure. One study on the neurotoxicity of pesticides, published in Chemosphere, concludes, “New regulatory and preventive measures to mitigate the neurotoxic effects of pesticides are needed.” (See also Daily News.) Even at low concentration, chronic exposure to pesticides and other environmental contaminants “poses serious ecological and health concerns” that occur as these chemicals “bioaccumulate […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2026) Published in PLOS ONE, research in Brazil “analyzed the impact of occupational/household chronic exposure to pesticides on the clinicopathological profile of breast cancer in rural women from Paraná southwest, a predominantly rural landscape with large pesticide uses,” finding that “pesticide exposure favors the occurrence of more aggressive breast cancer.” The study highlights the disproportionate risks of pesticides to farmworkers, focusing on women, as it compares exposed and unexposed populations and breast cancer tumor/disease characteristics. One of the study authors, Carolina Panis, PhD, discussed her earlier research at the Beyond Pesticides’ 42nd National Forum Series, The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature. In her previous work, Pesticide exposure and increased breast cancer risk in women population studies, Dr. Panis documents a number of pesticides that “can increase the risk of BC [breast cancer] development through various mutagenic [genetic mutations] and nonmutagenic mechanisms and can act directly as carcinogens or indirectly as biochemical modifiers and hormonal deregulators. The underlying mechanisms include endocrine disruption; genotoxicity; epigenetic changes [changes to gene function without changing DNA]; enhanced cell migration, invasion, and…” more. Dr. Panis and other researchers at the Forum support community-level understanding of the […]

[Update on February 9, 2026: In a press release on Friday, February 6, titled “EPA Implements Strongest Protections in Agency History for Over-the-Top Dicamba Use on Cotton and Soybeans for Next Two Growing Seasons,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to ignore the wide body of science that documents harms from dicamba, as well as the viability of alternative methods, in establishing what the agency is boasting are “the strongest protections in agency history for over-the-top (OTT) dicamba application on dicamba-tolerant cotton and soybean crops” as a direct response to the “strong advocacy of America’s cotton and soybean farmers.” These so-called “strong protections” are described as a way to ensure farmers can access the tools they “need” while also protecting the environment from dicamba’s harmful drift. In using “gold-standard science and radical transparency,” EPA created new label restrictions for the next two growing seasons that include “cutting the amount of dicamba that can be used annually in half, doubling required safety agents, requiring conservation practices to protect endangered species, and restricting applications during high temperatures when exposure and volatility risks increase.” Relying on unenforceable label restrictions and mitigation measures, however, fails to adequately protect health and the environment. See […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 12, 2026) With a pattern of chemical industry deception of independent scientific review, and the recent retraction of an influential Monsanto ghostwritten article (April 2000) on the weed killer glyphosate (Roundup™), Beyond Pesticides and its network are calling for oversight hearings in Congress. At issue is the reliance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on industry data and agency collusion with chemical manufacturers on its decisions. Beyond Pesticides is questioning the underlying reliability of the data, in addition to limitations of the regulatory review process in meeting its statutory duty to protect health and the environment. In addition to the deception, key underlying deficiencies are EPA’s failure to evaluate endocrine disrupting pesticides and synergistic effects of chemical mixtures. Given these deficiencies and the cost effectiveness of organic land management and crop production Beyond Pesticides is asking Congress to hold oversight hearings to determine how EPA can eliminate the use of toxic pesticides that are no longer needed to grow food or manage landscapes cost-effectively.  Critically, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and EPA’s pesticide program allow toxic chemicals to be dispersed, resulting in widespread negative impacts, without regard for the availability of cost-effective and profitable alternatives that are eco-sensitive and health protective. Consideration of the essentiality of synthetic substance […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 15, 2025) With recent proposals by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to register new pesticides that under international standards are classified as PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), people and organizations are calling for Congress to reverse the agency’s action. Beyond Pesticides announced an action to Tell EPA and Congress to eliminate PFAS chemicals, including those used in pesticides.  In its action Beyond Pesticides pointed to the long history of allowing pesticides on that market that have long residual lives and bioaccumulate in the environment, causing generations of exposure and adverse effects to health and ecosystems. DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) exemplifies the generational effect of a toxic pesticide whose effects ha endured for decades, even though it was hailed as a miracle solution for agriculture and public health. PFAS, with a wide variety of uses—from nonstick pans to waterproofing fabrics to firefighting foams to pesticides—might similarly lead to the characterization as a “miracle” chemical. PFAS also share the less beneficial characteristics of DDT. Like DDT, PFAS are persistent, leading to the nickname “forever chemicals,” and they are highly toxic. EPA links PFAS to an increased risk of many health effects, including decreased fertility and hypertension in pregnant people; increased risk of prostate, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2025) A study concluding that the weed killer glyphosate did not cause cancer was retracted last week after it was revealed in lawsuit documents that the authors did not disclose their relationship with Monsanto/Bayer. The editor-and-chief, Martin van den Berg, PhD of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, which published the article 25 years ago, wrote in the journal, “Concerns were raised regarding the authorship of this paper, validity of the research findings in the context of misrepresentation of the contributions by the authors and the study sponsor and potential conflicts of interest of the authors.”  The study, titled “Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment of the Herbicide Roundup and Its Active Ingredient, Glyphosate, for Humans” and coauthored by three researchers in New York, The Netherlands, and Canada, was referred to as a “Landmark glyphosate safety study” in a recent article by U.S. Right to Know.   While this retraction not only sheds light on Monsanto’s influence through ghostwriting, it adds to the wide body of evidence regarding the regulatory deficiencies currently in place. The revelation is a reminder of related incidents in which Monsanto (Bayer) and other companies have wielded excessive influence at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), undermining the integrity of the science needed to inform the regulatory decisions that safeguard health and the environment. (See Daily News Corruption Problems Persist at EPA.)  EPA Deficiencies  In addition to the initial registration process, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires that EPA conduct a registration review of all pesticide […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2025) A study published this month in Environmental Pollution analyzes the role of neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on bird populations, finding a significant negative effect of imidacloprid use on insectivorous bird abundance. In comparing the effects of the insecticide imidacloprid on bird abundance in France before and after the 2018 ban, the researchers show a weak recovery of bird populations after 2018. The persistent nature of imidacloprid, however, as well as the continued use of other petrochemical pesticides that have adverse effects on bird species, continues to impact populations of all types of birds and other wildlife, leading to cascading impacts on biodiversity.    “Our study shows that imidacloprid is a major covariate of the abundance of birds, in addition to other pesticides that are also negatively related to bird populations, and that these effects are not uniform across species,” the authors report. They continue in saying that the relationship between neonicotinoids and bird abundance varied across bird diets, as “the abundance of insectivorous birds was consistently lower under increasing pesticide use, in particular imidacloprid.” Background As shared in the study and on Beyond Pesticides’ Birds page, bird species can be exposed to pesticides directly through ingestion […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 4, 2025) In a news release last week on November 26, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “issued a comprehensive fact-check addressing dangerous misinformation circulating about EPA’s recent pesticide approvals” that, according to health and environmental advocates, continues to deceive the public about the true risks for health and the environment from petrochemical pesticides including, but not limited to, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Also published on November 26, coverage titled The EPA Is Embracing PFAS Pesticides. These Are The Health Risks in Time further highlights EPA’s deficiencies and the threats of PFAS, which Beyond Pesticides has extensively covered. (See here and here.)  The controversy erupted as a result of EPA’s latest proposal to allow a new fluorinated pesticide to the list of four other similar compounds now widely available for use in homes and gardens, buildings, and agriculture. The newest pesticide proposed for EPA registration, epyrifenacil (agricultural weed killer), joins cyclobutrifluram (soil fungicide/nematicide), isocycloseram (household and agricultural insecticide), diflufenican (lawn and agricultural weed killer), and trifludimoxazin (agricultural weed killer), making a total of five PFAS pesticide proposals this year that have been associated with national and worldwide contamination of food, land, and water. Two of these, cyclobutrifluram and isocycloseram, have been approved. “Instead of constraining the use of fluorinated pesticides—persistent and highly toxic […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 20, 2025) Recent scientific literature finds heightened toxicity associated with pesticide metabolites, the transformation/breakdown products of the parent compounds, that threaten the health of the soil, wildlife, and humans. This research stresses the importance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) evaluating metabolites, which is currently insufficiently included in regulatory processes. In a literature review in Global Change Biology, the researchers point out multiple areas in which regulations fail to address key criteria, including metabolites, saying: “Pesticide risk assessments currently rely on surrogate species and focus primarily on acute lethality metrics, failing to capture the broader impacts on non-target organisms and thus biodiversity. Under the directives of regulatory agencies worldwide, this traditional approach overlooks the complex interactions between multiple stressors, including climate change, land-use shifts, and pesticide transformation products. Pesticide risk assessments must therefore undergo a paradigm shift to account for these complex interactions, which disproportionately affect insect pollinators, other non-target species, and biodiversity at large.” A metabolite is a breakdown product that forms when a pesticide is used in the environment and mixes with air, water, soil, or living organisms. All metabolites fall under the category of transformation products, which is the broader term for any […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 4, 2025) A study of earthworms published in Environmental Science & Technology highlights how chemical mixtures can have both synergistic and species-specific effects, threatening the soil microbiome and overall soil health. In exposing two species, Eisenia fetida and Metaphire guillelmi, to the weed killer glyphosate alone and in combination with urea, a form of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, the researchers find enhanced toxicity with co-exposure as well as varying health effects between the two species. These results emphasize the need to test a wide variety of nontarget organisms for impacts from environmental contaminants, since species, even within the same genus or family, can exhibit vastly different effects. Glyphosate, as one of the most widely used herbicides worldwide, is highly researched, with a multitude of studies linking the weed killer to effects on humans, wildlife, and soil ecosystems. Since simultaneous application of glyphosate and urea frequently occurs in agriculture, the effects of this mixture on earthworms are crucial for understanding the overall impacts on soil health. In exposing the two species to the individual compounds and as a mixture, the authors report increased glyphosate residues in earthworm gut contents, reduced body weight, aggravated intestinal tissue damage, sharply decreased digestive […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 21, 2025) A study, published in International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, calculates cumulative dietary pesticide exposure and finds a significant positive association between pesticide residues in food and urine when analyzing over 40 produce types. The research uses data for 1,837 individuals from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and compares them to biomonitoring samples of the participants. According to the researchers, “Here we show that consumption of fruits and vegetables, weighted by pesticide load, is associated with increasing levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers.” They continue, “When excluding potatoes, consumption of fruits and vegetables weighted by pesticide contamination was associated with higher levels of urinary pesticide biomarkers for organophosphate, pyrethroid, and neonicotinoid insecticides.” The NHANES data is derived from a national biomonitoring survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which collects information about consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as urine samples. Background As the study authors explain: “Hundreds of millions of pounds of synthetic pesticide active ingredients are used every year in the United States, and pesticide exposure can occur through food, drinking water, residential proximity to agricultural spraying, household pesticide use, and occupational use. Pesticide […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 7, 2025) Published in Environment International, a study utilizing silicone wristbands provides a snapshot of chemical exposure in over 600 participants across 10 European countries. Using the wristbands as passive and noninvasive samplers, the researchers find that organic farmers’ wristbands contain lower pesticide levels than other groups, offering insight into the benefits of organic and disproportionate risks to farmers using chemical-intensive methods. The results further reveal prevalent environmental pesticide mixtures, in addition to highlighting exposure to current-use pesticides (CUPs) and legacy (banned) pesticides that occurs through multiple exposure routes to workers, residents, and consumers. “Our study offers a comprehensive analysis of non-dietary pesticide exposure patterns among various populations across the EU [European Union], underscoring its widespread prevalence and identifying significant occupational and residential predictors,” the authors explain. As pesticide exposure occurs through both dietary and nondietary routes, such as through dermal (skin) contact and inhalation of contaminated air, there “is a growing need for aggregated [total; combined] exposure estimates across occupationally and nonoccupationally exposed populations.” The study includes testing for 193 pesticides, both legacy pesticides and CUPs, captured in silicone wristbands worn by farmers, residents living close to treated fields (neighbors), and the general population (consumers) in […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2025) A novel study of chronic toxicity of the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam to honey bees (Apis mellifera), published in Insects, finds sublethal effects that threaten the survival of bee larvae and the health of bee colonies. “We evaluated the effects of thiamethoxam on the entire larval development cycle of reproductive bees and conducted a comparative analysis, demonstrating that thiamethoxam significantly alters ecdysone [a hormone that controls molting in insects] and juvenile hormone titers [hormones for insect growth] in both queen and drone larvae, impairing metamorphosis and reproductive development,” the authors state. Risk assessments and scientific literature focus primarily on honey bee workers, rarely including how pesticides can impact queen and drone bees that are necessary for stable colonies. In focusing on this data gap, the researchers reveal that the survival rate of bee larvae decreases gradually with increasing doses of thiamethoxam, adding to the wide body of science on pesticide-related threats to honey bee health. (See Beyond Pesticides’ What the Science Shows on Biodiversity page for more information, as well as Daily News coverage on risk assessments here, here, and here.) Honey bees provide crucial ecosystem services as pollinating insects and play a vital role in […]