(Beyond Pesticides, January 22, 2025) A study published in Nature Scientific Reports in December 2024 sheds light on how people value the benefits of reducing or eliminating pesticide exposures. The study, based on economic concepts, is a meta-analysis of studies that have attempted to discern what that value is in monetary terms. This study shows the difficulty in gleaning from the existing literature an assignment of true value of social costs associated with pesticide contamination and poisoning, however, was able to glean several points of interest: People’s “willingness to pay” (WTP) is higher for health benefits than ecological ones. In studies that included pesticide risks associated with cancer, the social cost (WTP) tripled. People’s WTP is higher to prevent or ameliorate chronic diseases than to treat or avoid acute exposures. If the study did not specify a pesticide type—even general categories such as herbicide, insecticide and fungicide, and most studies fell into this category—the WTP is significantly higher. In ecosystem terms, use of the term “biodiversity” results in higher WTPs compared to other aspects such as groundwater or aquatic organism health. Consumers are more risk-averse than farmers. The higher the income, the higher the WTP. Social cost is distinguished from the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 21, 2025) When the American Cancer Society (ACS) published its annual report last week, it pointed to a rising incidence of cancer in younger women and highlighted disparities by race and ethnicity that are especially timely with the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In its report, “Cancer Mortality Continues to Drop Despite Rising Incidence in Women; Rates of New Diagnoses Under 65 Higher in Women Than Men,” ACS writes: “Disparities in cancer occurrence and outcomes are often the result of socioeconomic deprivation as a consequence of structural racism, which limits opportunities for education and other mechanisms of upward mobility. For example, the historical practice of mortgage lending discrimination known as redlining is associated with later stage cancer diagnosis, lower likelihood of receiving recommended treatment, and higher cancer mortality. Inequalities in wealth lead to differences in the prevalence of risk factor exposures as well as access to high-quality cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. Even beyond higher prevalence of common risk factors like smoking and obesity, exposure to carcinogenic air emissions is up to 50% higher among people experiencing poverty, regardless of race or ethnicity. In 2022, 25% of AIAN [American Indian and Alaska Native] people lived below the federal […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 17-20, 2025) Martin Luther King Day recognizes the achievements of a remarkable civil rights leader while asking the nation to assess what more the country must do to ensure equality and environmental justice, as well as protection for those who suffer disproportionately from toxic chemical exposure. Advocates and disproportionately affected communities acknowledge the historic nature of the Biden Administration’s commitment to elevating environmental justice in the decision-making of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, according to Willy Blackmore, writer for Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (“the oldest Black-owned newspaper in the state of Minnesota and one of the longest-standing, family-owned newspapers in the country”), “[T]he more systemic change that [Administrator] Regan’s EPA tried to bring about was stonewalled by legal challenges that threatened to undermine the agency’s strongest tool for righting environmental injustices.” Black communities across the nation face disproportionate impacts to petrochemical infrastructure and toxic chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers. A 2021 study published in BMC Public Health found that biomarkers for 12 dangerous pesticides tracked over the past 20 years were found in the blood and urine of Black participants at average levels up to five times those in White participants. A University of Michigan study found […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 16, 2025) In Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, researchers highlight a multitude of studies on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and endocrine disrupting pesticides (EDPs) showing epigenetic effects from exposure. These EDCs imitate the action of endocrine hormones and lead to gene damage and multigenerational adverse effects to health. “These chemicals can interfere with the normal functioning of target tissues by altering their response to hormonal signals, thereby affecting various physiological processes including reproduction, development, the nervous system, the immune system, and even the process of carcinogenesis [causing cancer],” according to the authors from Hebei Agricultural University and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.   In causing epigenetic modifications, the authors describe that EDCs can create changes “at the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (nDNA and mtDNA) or RNA levels, without changing the underlying DNA sequence. These alterations modify the structure or conformation of DNA, influencing gene expression and, consequently, cellular function.” They continue, “The mechanisms of epigenetics include changes in DNA methylation, chromatin modifications and the involvement of certain noncoding RNAs.” In reviewing over 80 studies on EDCs, predominantly fluorinated compounds such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the researchers provide a summary of linkages between pesticide exposure and the […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 15, 2025) There is robust scientific literature that unpacks the adverse human health effects of pesticide exposure, however immunological impacts do not receive adequate attention in regulatory review processes, according to an in-depth literature review. In a piece published in Frontiers in Immunology (2024) critiquing recent peer-reviewed scientific studies, as well as unpublished research produced by the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine in partnership with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina, researchers assess immune system effects of pesticide exposure, which creates the conditions for deadly health conditions including various forms of cancer. The focus of this study, according to the authors, is “to critically review fundamental aspects of toxicological studies conducted on PPPs [Plant Protection Products] to provide a clearer understanding of the risks associated with exposure to these compounds on human health.” PPPs are pesticide products that contain more than one active ingredient, and can include synergistic ingredients that supercharge them alongside inert ingredients that pesticide companies are not legally required to disclose under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), but are often manipulated biologically and chemically active. Most studies analyze the toxicological impacts of active ingredients in isolation rather […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 14, 2025) Women with occupational pesticide exposure have elevated rates of breast cancer, according to a study in Immunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology. Based on an analysis of clinicopathological data from 188 affected women, the study authors demonstrate “that occupational exposure to pesticides modifies the clinical presentation of disease in breast cancer patients, depending on their age at disease onset, affecting cytokine production, especially in those exhibiting early age at diagnosis.”   “Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignant neoplasm affecting women worldwide and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in this population,” the researchers report. They continue: “Aging is the primary risk factor associated with breast cancer development and mortality, resulting in a cumulative lifetime risk of 1 in 8 women developing the disease. Disease onset significantly impacts patient prognosis. While most cases are of late onset and occur in women over 50 years of age, early-onset BC is prevalent in certain populations and is associated with a poor prognosis and aggressive tumor behavior.”  Data was collected and analyzed from May 2015 to December 2022, with the study population in Brazil spanning “27 municipalities in the southwest of Paraná, a region characterized by extensive pesticide use, predominantly […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2025) In a Frontiers in Public Health review article, researchers report on the wide body of science connecting adverse effects to female reproductive system, such as infertility, with exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). The authors call these effects a significant concern for public health, as there has been growing evidence of EDCs with risk factors for decreased fertility.   Infertility “affects a substantial proportion of the world’s population with approximately one in six people affected,” the researchers note. They continue: “Over the last 70 years, global fertility has been constantly in decline due to behavioral and societal changes… [E]merging evidence has shown that infertility incidence is linked to exposure to environmental factors such as tobacco, alcohol, and a wide range of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) including pesticides (chlorpyrifos, glyphosate, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane [DDT] and methoxychlor), phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), dioxins, and bisphenols.”  In this review, over 100 studies are summarized to showcase the link between EDC exposure and reproductive effects in women, including infertility and related diseases such as endometriosis, premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), and endocrine axis dysregulation. The studies included investigating the “mechanisms by which EDCs cause ovarian aging, folliculogenesis, decrease of oocyte quality, ovulation disorders, development and receptivity […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 7, 2025) A report, released in December 2024 from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), confronts the problem of “siloing” environmental elements—food, health, water, biodiversity and climate change—when they instead intersect at a nexus from which each element affects all the others. The problem is essentially that all the elements are part of the same crisis, yet actions to address issues within each—and, importantly, to resist addressing them—are dealt with in isolation. A proper perspective, gleaned from the report, is to view each element from the center where all parts meet, thus addressing the issues in coordination. According to the IPBES report, “[F]ragmented governance of biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change with different institutions and actors often working on disconnected and siloed policy agendas, resulting in conflicting objectives and duplication of efforts.” The IPBES is an independent body analogous to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) but structured similarly and in close contact with the United Nations (UN). The new report comes at the behest of IPBES’s 147 member countries—75 percent of the UN’s membership—to address the interconnections among the five global crises. The report strongly demonstrates that a holistic, globe-spanning frame […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 3, 2025) Pesticides that are sprayed and become airborne significantly disrupt ecological balances and affect nontarget species that are crucial for maintaining biodiversity, according to an article in Environmental Pollution. In this review of studies throughout countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, among others, researchers from Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Poland reinforce the science about pesticides’ direct effect on species and the cascading effects of pesticide drift through various trophic levels within food webs that lead to overall devasting population effects. This study “addresses the interconnectedness of these impacts and illustrates the complex threats that pesticide drift poses to biodiversity across multiple ecosystems,” the researchers state. They continue: “Impacts include reduced reproductive rates, changes in growth, development, and/or behavior, modification of diversity or community organization, disruption of food webs, and declines of important species. Pesticides disrupt the delicate balance between species that define a functioning ecosystem. Impacts can be local, transnational, or even continental.” Pesticide drift threatens beneficial species and subsequently the entire agricultural system. The process of pesticide drift, “in which up to 25% of applied pesticides are carried by air currents, can transport chemicals over hundreds or even thousands of […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 2, 2025) Adding to the body of scientific literature on the fast escalating antibiotic resistance crisis is a study published by Chinese scientists in Environmental Science & Technology, which shows that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in soils move up through trophic levels via predation. Gut microbiomes of soil fauna have been found to be reservoirs of ARGs. How this process operates in soils is vital, because what happens in soil microbes does not stay there. If bacteria altered in soils move up trophic levels, ARGs may strengthen the multicellular agricultural pests the industry is trying to kill—insects, fungi, plants—not to mention bringing their libraries of resistant genes into the microbiomes of vertebrates, including humans. Antibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon, but human activity has greatly increased its presence in ecosystems the world over, including in one of the ecological niches of greatest concern to the future of food and human health: soils. Soils are complexes of mineral and organic substrates populated by billions of microorganisms and tiny animals. They are rapidly being degraded by conventional agriculture, forestry, and land management practices generally—more than a third of the world’s agricultural land has already been severely damaged by pesticides, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 24, 2024 – January 1, 2025) We wish you a healthy and happy holiday season! The health and environmental challenges that we face as families and communities across the nation and worldwide require us to stay engaged. The stark reality of the challenges ahead energizes us at Beyond Pesticides to strengthen our program—now, more than ever!   And, we trust that you, like us, want to push forward for a livable future. In this context, please see our annual report and summary on the important work that we are doing, and please consider a contribution to Beyond Pesticides during this holiday season.  While the threats of health, biodiversity, and climate crises grow exponentially, the solutions we have advocated for decades are now within reach. We know how to produce food and manage land without petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, as organic food is widely available. Beautiful parks, playing fields, and schoolyards do not require toxic chemical use. At the same time, the regulatory system underperforms, as existential health and environmental problems escalate.   And, we know that individual steps that we take to stay healthy, as important as they are, cannot protect us and the natural world, on which […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 23, 2024) As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) proposes to list the Monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a look at the factors contributing to the butterfly’s catastrophic decline includes a stunning failure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of pesticides to protect biodiversity and the ecosystems necessary to its survival. While there are many factors affecting the survival of Monarchs, EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) has allowed pesticide use to continue unabated, with only rhetorical attention to the problem. Meanwhile, the science shows a range of pesticide effects associated with insecticides and herbicides. A study published in PLOS One in June identifies insecticides as the primary driver in butterfly’s decline, as EPA points, almost exclusively to herbicide use and the destruction of Monarchs’ food source, milkweed habitat. While two or several factors can be true at the same time, EPA has failed to consider the confluence of factors, including the impacts of climate, as rising temperatures are exacerbated by the production and use of petrochemical pesticides. FWS is stepping in at a critical time with looming biodiversity collapse and in the absence of EPA taking the reins […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 19, 2024) As The New York Times reported last month, the government in South Africa declared a national emergency—23 children died and nearly 900 people were sickened from pesticide poisoning in Johannesburg’s Soweto township. The illnesses and fatalities have been traced to small amounts of highly neurotoxic pesticides, including the insecticides terbufos and aldicarb, found in local food items. These chemicals, described by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as “street pesticides,” are being increasingly used (legally and illegally) for pest infestations in the townships and informal settlements of South Africa’s poorest communities, where poverty and inadequate waste collection exacerbates the pest management challenges. Without formal electricity, running water, or municipal garbage collection, many residents rely on highly toxic pesticides for pest infestations in their homes and makeshift markets, resulting in food inadvertently being contaminated with pesticides.  The announcement highlights the dangers of allowing these highly toxic agricultural chemicals to be used in farming, with tragic consequences for vulnerable communities when they are diverted for use in urban settings. This tragic situation also draws attention to the elevated threat that pesticides pose when stringent enforcement mechanisms are not in place to ensure compliance with pesticide restrictions, even with […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 18, 2024) A bombshell investigation conducted by Canada’s National Observer finds that Bayer, which acquired the Monsanto chemical company in 2018, colluded with environmental and public health regulators in Canada to obstruct a proposed neonicotinoid insecticide ban originally introduced in 2018. Advocates were stunned back in 2021 when Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)—the Canadian counterpart to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—reversed its decision to phase out imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam by 2023. The weaponization of scientific institutions and regulatory processes is commonplace in the U.S. context, with U.S. Right to Know publishing a report earlier this year on the corrupting impact of pesticide manufacturers at the Entomological Society of America 2023 annual meeting. (See Daily News here.) There are numerous Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports signaling EPA corruption and failures, including persisting industry influence in the cancer risk assessment process, inadequate leadership in addressing community harms of a former creosote-treated wood preservative plant turned Superfund site in Pensacola, Florida, and failure to protect the public from endocrine-disrupting chemicals, to name several examples. In a recent press release, the David Suzuki Foundation, alongside numerous medical, legal, and civil society organizations, is calling on Health Canada […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 17, 2024) A systematic review of studies on pesticides as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on body weight, published in Biomedicines, evaluates 36 clinical and preclinical studies and links their agricultural use to obesity. The authors, with the lead researchers from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at Catholic University of Valencia San Vincente, Valencia, Spain, assess studies on a range of pesticides, including organophosphates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, and others. In addition to concluding that the EDCs promote obesity, they report that the chemicals cause “other anthropometric changes by altering lipid and glucose metabolism, modifying genes, or altering hormone levels such as leptin.” Endocrine disruption and obesity are public health concerns, and there is a wide body of science linking pesticide exposure to these effects (see more here). “Obesity is considered to be a worldwide pandemic that leads to an increase in medical costs and thus becomes a public health problem,” the researchers share. They continue, “[Obesity] is also associated with the increased production of environmental chemicals, also called environmental obesogens, used mainly in agriculture, as disease vector control, helping to prevent harmful effects caused by fungi, bacteria, or even pests, using pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides, or endocrine disruptors […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 16, 2024) The fact that three-quarters of all U.S. fruits and nuts and one-third of all U.S. vegetables are grown in California means that all U.S. food eaters have a stake in how food is grown there. California is proposing the continued use of the fumigant 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D, also known as Telone), which can cause deadly effects to farmworkers and endocrine disrupting effects to communities of people exposed through nontarget chemical drift from farmland. So, it is with deep concern that Beyond Pesticides is urging the state of California, where the chemical is undergoing review, to ban the toxicant. Endocrine disruption, an adverse effect for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never completed a pesticide testing protocol, adversely affects the functioning of glands and hormones and is linked to major life-threatening diseases in most organ systems in the body—contributing to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, early puberty, infertility and other reproductive disorders, and childhood and adult cancers. In a recently released draft regulation, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) will allow highly elevated exposure to 1,3-D, ignoring the scientific literature and advice of the state’s own toxicologists at […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 13, 2024) In October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the registration applications of BASF Corporation and Mitsui Chemicals Crop & Life Solutions, Inc. for the use of different formulations of the L-isomer of glufosinate (also known as “L-glufosinate” and “glufosinate-P”) as new active herbicidal ingredients. This decision marks one of the first times that EPA has employed its new Herbicide  Strategy Framework to determine the level of mitigation necessary to protect listed species and critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Glufosinate is an organophosphate, with known neurotoxic, reproductive/developmental effects, toxic to aquatic life, and mobile in soils (see Beyond Pesticides Gateway). Scientists have found that formulated glufosinate is generally more toxic to aquatic and terrestrial animals than the technical grade active ingredient. Manufacturers are introducing newer glufosinate products as alternatives for glyphosate-based herbicides, like Bayer/Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’ and dicamba. The Center for Biological Diversity notes in comments submitted to EPA on this decision, “L-glufosinate has the potential to be used on tens of millions acres of land every year given the crops EPA has proposed to register it on. The scale of potential use is far above most new active ingredients.” This first significant application […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2024) A literature review of 161 articles in Discover Toxicology finds that pesticides with different mechanisms of action cause memory and learning impairments. These effects are noted in nontarget species including humans. Pesticide “[e]xposure during development, as well as chronic environmental and occupational exposure, can contribute to decreased cognitive performance,” the researchers say. With a focus on organophosphate pesticides, synthetic pyrethroids, and neonicotinoid insecticides, the authors highlight neurological impacts. Both learning and memory are crucial for the survival of many species. “Considering the importance of learning and memory for human and non-human animal behavior and the growing association between pesticide exposure and cognitive impairment, the aim of this review was to describe the studies showing the impact of pesticide exposure on memory and learning abilities in nontarget species, providing evidence of the impact of pesticides in central nervous system function,” the researchers state. The 161 articles included in the review were identified through database searches in PubMed/Medline and Scielo. The authors note, “Inclusion criteria for article selection included all articles published in English between 2015 and 2024 containing original studies in animals or humans with single or multiple pesticides exposure.” The articles consist of 132 preclinical […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 10, 2024) Scientists from the Engineering Research Center of Protection and Utilization of Plant Resources at Shenyang Agricultural University in China reveal adverse effects of imidacloprid on soil communities in a study published in Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology. The researchers highlight risks to nematodes from imidacloprid exposure in maize soil, as well as potential resistance mechanisms that impact not only nematode populations but also overall soil health. Maize, or corn, a productive crop grown worldwide, is a source of food and biofuel. In assessing the soil and species in maize fields after exposure to imidacloprid at various concentrations, the study researchers assess the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides on nontarget organisms and the health of soil communities. The assessment includes an evaluation of nematodes’ survival, growth, reproduction, and chemotaxis/locomotion behavior. With a statistical analysis of lipid and lipofuscin accumulation, acetylcholinesterase (an enzyme necessary for neurotransmission) activity, and gene expression levels, the study results show that imidacloprid induces: significantly reduced abundance and diversity of nematode species. negative effects on body length, reproduction, locomotion, lipid accumulation, lipofuscin accumulation, and acetylcholinesterase activity in Caenorhabditis elegans ( elegans). the upregulation of gpa-1, cyp-35a2, fat-2, fat-6, hsp-16.41, and hsp-16.2, along with the downregulation […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 9, 2024) In recognition of the explosion of a chemical plant in Bhopal, India 40 years ago that was responsible for the death of 20,000 people, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal introduced H.Res. 1604, “Recognizing the 40th year since the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster and helping to ensure that no other community suffers another chemical disaster, by supporting the designation of December 3 as National Chemical Disaster Awareness Day” and calling for support of survivors of the disaster and promoting public understanding of the dangers of chemical disasters. The Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) plant explosion released a cloud of highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas in the middle of the night, killing thousands of people immediately—estimates range from 1,754 to 10,000—and up to 20,000 subsequently. Estimates of the number suffering permanent disabilities or chronic disease range up to 95% of the affected population of 531,881. MIC is a precursor used in the manufacture of carbamate insecticides, including aldicarb, carbofuran, and carbaryl. In spite of this history and the many adverse effects of these extremely toxic pesticides and their precursors, EPA continues to register pesticides without considering cradle-to-grave risks.  >> Tell EPA that harm done in the manufacture, transportation, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 6, 2024) On December 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yet another milestone in the convoluted life span of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Under the deceptive headline “EPA Proposes Rule to Revoke Most Food Uses of the Insecticide Chlorpyrifos,” EPA stated that it is improving environmental protection by revoking all usages of chlorpyrifos except for 11 food and feed crops. The proposal was deemed “unconscionable” by Beyond Pesticides executive director Jay Feldman in an article in The New Lede. EPA claims this plan would reduce annual chlorpyrifos application by 70% compared to “historical usage.” Chlorpyrifos is a known neurological and reproductive toxicant. EPA has been cutting back on approved uses for years but is far behind other environmental authorities—the European Food Safety Authority and Thailand have banned it altogether, and California has banned its agricultural use. The trouble with EPA’s latest attempt is that it does nothing to clarify and rationalize EPA’s process, and it will not protect the public, because those 11 remaining products are among the most extensively grown and used in the world: soybeans, sugar beets, cotton, wheat, apples, citrus fruits, strawberries, alfalfa, cherries, peaches, and asparagus. Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate chemical. These […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 5, 2024) A novel, comprehensive study published in Science reviews a library of 1,024 different chemicals (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and plant inhibitors) finding that, even at “sublethal” exposure levels, 57% of tested chemicals impact the behavioral and physiological health of house fly larvae. Mosquito and butterfly populations are also susceptible to long-term adverse effects at sublethal levels. Environmental and public health advocates continue to raise concerns about adverse effects resulting from the failure of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider cumulative exposure (resulting in aggregate and synergistic effects) across different mechanisms of toxicity and different classes of pesticides, including at exposure levels below allowable levels set by the agency. In the context of the regulatory gaps and pesticide industry influence at EPA (See Daily News here), advocates stress the importance of transitioning land and agricultural practices to organic principles. Methodology and Results  Background, Goals, Primary Takeaways  This research was led by an international team of experts from various universities and institutes, including European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Institut Pasteur, and Heidelberg University (Center for Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Department). The authors received funding from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the German Center for Infection Research, and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 3, 2024) In an article in Science, Sabrina Rondeau, PhD reviews her research from 2022-2024 showcasing species of ground-nesting bees, often found in crop fields, that are highly vulnerable to soil pesticide residues and subsequently suffer population declines. Dr. Rondeau, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa, points to regulatory deficiencies, specifically in environmental risk assessments (ERAs), and the detrimental effects of pesticides on pollinators that threaten food security and biodiversity. “Modern intensive agriculture faces a critical paradox: The very pesticides designed to protect our crops endanger essential pollinators that sustain their productivity,” Dr. Rondeau says in the article. Her research (see here, here, here, here, here, and here) identifies important gaps overlooked in current assessments and regulations for bee species, including the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) and the hoary squash bee (Xenoglossa pruinosa). Bumble bee queens in temperate climates hibernate for 6-9 months in the soil, while the hoary squash bee is a solitary ground-nesting species. Reference additional Daily News coverage on ground-nesting bees here and here. “‘Our findings show that over 70% of wild bee species, which are crucial for pollinating our food crops, face significant risks […]