Search results for "ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT"
showing 10 items of 15 documents
Neonicotinoids in excretion product of phloem-feeding insects kill beneficial insects
2019
Significance The use of insecticides in agriculture is one of the suggested causes of the decline in insect populations. Neonicotinoids are among the most widely used insecticides. However, they have important negative side effects, especially for pollinators and other beneficial insects feeding on floral nectar and pollen. We identified an exposure route: Neonicotinoids reach and kill beneficial insects when they feed on the most abundant carbohydrate source for insects in agroecosystems, honeydew. Honeydew is the excretion product of phloem-feeding hemipteran insects such as aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, or psyllids. This route of exposure is likely to affect a much wider range of benefi…
Microbial communities as ecological indicators of ecosystem recovery following chemical pollution
2017
International audience; ‘Ecosystem recovery’ is a concept that emerged from the need to preserve our environment against increasing contamination from human activity. However, ecological indicators of ecosystem recovery remain scarce, and it is still difficult to assess recovery of ecological processes at relevant spatial and temporal scales. Microbial communities hold key relevance as indicators of ecosystem recovery as they are ubiquitous among diverse ecosystems, respond rapidly to environmental changes, and support many ecosystem functions and services through taxonomic and functional biodiversity. This chapter summarizes the state-of-the-art in knowledge on the processes driving the st…
Monod-based ‘single-data’ strategy for biodegradation screening tests
2020
Environmental contextObtaining biodegradation data over time can be difficult, especially when dealing with environmental compartments of increasing complexity. We evaluated the possibility of obtaining a full biodegradation depletion curve from a single biodegradation-time experimental measurement, and found that environmental information related to potential chemical persistence can be derived. The applicability of this ‘single-data’ strategy is illustrated using simulated and experimental data for several compounds. AbstractInformation obtained from biodegradability tests, e.g. half-life (t50) or kinetics parameters, is relevant in environmental risk assessment of new chemicals. In thes…
The usefulness of a mathematical model of exposure for environmental risk assessment
2011
We respond to the Comment of Lang et al . [[1][1]] regarding our mathematical model [[2][2]] of exposure of non-target Lepidoptera to Bt -maize pollen expressing Cry1Ab within Europe. Lang et al . remark on the degree to which the model was subject to uncertainty. Perry et al . [[2][2]] did indeed
Toward sustainable environmental quality : Priority research questions for Europe
2018
P.J. Van den Brink et al.
Distribution of fullerenes (nC60) between sediment and water in freshwaters
2014
Abstract Depending on environmental conditions, fullerenes (nC 60 ) have the potential to settle to the bottom sediments. In this study the distribution of nC 60 was investigated in the labile zone between sediment and water. Three freshwater–sediment systems representing oligohumic, mesohumic, and polyhumic lakes with varying sediment composition and structure were used to investigate the target of fullerenes. The largest portion of water suspended fullerenes was found in the sediment, but a part re-suspended relatively quickly to water-stabile particles associated with natural particles. Rapid initial re-suspending was followed by a slower one offering a continuous pathway to the water ph…
The role of freshwater copepods in the environmental risk assessment of caffeine and propranolol mixtures in the surface water bodies of Spain
2019
In this study we aimed at assessing: (i) the environmental risk posed by mixtures of caffeine and propranolol to the freshwater ecosystems of Spain; (ii) the sensitivity of freshwater copepod species to the two compounds; (iii) if the toxicity of caffeine and propranolol to freshwater copepods contributes to the environmental risk posed by the two compounds in the freshwater bodies of Spain. The environmental risk was computed as the ratio of MECs (i.e. the measured environmental concentrations) to PNECs (i.e. the respective predicted no-effect concentrations). The effects of caffeine and propranolol on the freshwater cyclopoid Diacyclops crassicaudis crassicaudis were tested both individua…
Multiple stressors in Mediterranean coastal wetland ecosystems : Influence of salinity and an insecticide on zooplankton communities under different …
2021
Temperature increase, salinity intrusion and pesticide pollution have been suggested to be among the main stressors affecting the biodiversity of coastal wetland ecosystems. Here we assessed the single and combined effects of these stressors on zooplankton communities collected from a Mediterranean coastal lagoon. An indoor microcosm experiment was designed with temperature variation (20 °C and 30 °C), salinity (no addition, 2.5 g/L NaCl) and the insecticide chlorpyrifos (no addition, 1 μg/L) as treatments. The impact of these stressors was evaluated on water quality variables and on the zooplankton comunity (structure, diversity, abundance and taxa responses) for 28 days. This study shows …
Pesticides: Chemical and Biological.
2013
There is a requirement by World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other International Organizations to develop environmentally sustainable systems for controlling pests that are less reliant on chemical pesticides as the primary management tool. However biological control alone cannot at the moment solve all pest problems and must be considered instrument to be used in combination with other methods. Compatibility of chemical pesticides (CP) and biological pesticides (BP) is one of the key for the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Testing the compatibility of CP and BP is necessary if these two agents are to be applied together…
Response to Kruse-Plass et al. (2017) regarding the risk to non-target lepidopteran larvae exposed to pollen from one or more of three Bt maize event…
2017
We respond to the paper of Kruse-Plass et al. (Environ Sci Eur 29:12, 2017), published in this journal, regarding the risk to non-target lepidopteran larvae exposed to pollen from one or more of three Bt maize events (MON810, Bt11 and 1507). We emphasise that what is important for environmental risk assessment is not the number of pollen grains per se, but the degree of exposure of a NT lepidopteran larva to Bt protein contained in maize pollen. The main text of this response deals with general issues which Kruse-Plass et al. have failed to understand; more detailed refutations of each of their claims are given in Additional file 1. Valid environmental risk assessment requires direct measur…