Scientists Find 24 Banned Pesticides, Neonicotinoids and Veterinary Drugs In 100% Of Tested European Waterways

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In a 2019 study [1] appearing in Volume 670 of Science of The Total Environment, a group of British researchers sampled water from up to 29 waterways, spread across 10 European Union countries – and their findings were troubling.

According to Casado et al. (2019) from the University of Exeter, all rivers (yes, 100%) in the study tested positive for pesticides and veterinary drugs. In particular, the researchers found 21 veterinary drugs and 103 pesticides, including 24 banned compounds.

The study employed solid-phase extraction, liquid chromatography, and Orbitrap high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry testing techniques to measure the levels of pesticides and veterinary drugs in the water samples. These methods meant that only a certain category of pesticides could be detected.

It’s worth noting that some common pesticides such as chlorothalonil and glyphosate were not part of the study. So as remarkable as the levels of contamination seem, they are merely the tip of the iceberg – the bare minimum.

In one Belgian canal, the scientists measured up to 70 different pesticides, making it the highest level of contamination recorded in the study. Even more concerning, nearly 50% of the tested waterways had concentrations that exceeded the acceptable standard under European guidelines.

Although they found 24 unlicensed pesticides, the researchers were hesitant to raise red flags on the matter, citing the possibility that the contamination could have happened before the bans. Regarding veterinary drugs, most of them were antimicrobials such as widely used antibiotics.

The high levels of pesticides and veterinary drugs in the waterways suggest the possibility of complex mixtures, whose collective impact is currently unknown. The contamination is mainly a health risk for wildlife, and it may even facilitate the development of drug-resistant microbes. Paul Johnston, one of the researchers in the study, highlighting the risk to humans by drawing attention to resistant fungal infections in hospitals, which are a cause for concern.

Similar to the study by Casado et al. (2019), Swiss researchers [2] ecently found that 80% of wildlife areas and a remarkable 93% of organic farms in Switzerland were contaminated with pesticides. An earlier study published in the PloS one Journal by Dutch researchers [3] also claimed that a common insecticide was devastating water-based species such as snails and dragonflies in the Netherlands. These negative statistics explain the plummeting population of birds and insects that rely on water sources for food. See also further analysis and critique of the Dutch study published my PloS One in 2014. [4]

France Becomes The First Country To Ban All Five Pesticides Linked To Bee Deaths

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In May 2018 the EU banned three of the significant pesticides implicated in the collapse of bee populations. Clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam are now prohibited for use on crops.

However France has gone a step further and set the high bar in the effort to save the bees. Given the importance of pollinators to nature and the survival of the biosphere, this could not happen too soon!

Studies have reported that the neonicotinoid pesticides attack the central nervous system of insects, leading to loss of memory and homing skills, in addition to reduced fertility. Bees that cannot find their way back to the hive quickly die. However the pesticides have also been shown to affect butterflies, birds and other pollinating insects.

There is a reason why France is ahead of the field in this regard: The “bee killing” pesticides were tested first on French fields in the 1990’s – and the French farmers witnessed first-hand the catastrophic effects that occurred in 1994; describing “a carpet of dead bees”. 400,000 bee colonies died within days – yet the story was buried under a layer of corruption and distorted science.

Since that time, activists and manufacturers have battled to control the situation. We covered this story in full in a previous post: Overwhelming Evidence Linking Neonicotinoid Insecticides To Massive Die-off Of Bees And Songbirds

The new move is certain to be celebrated by ecologists and sets an example of protection of nature that the rest of the world needs to follow.