Common pesticides 'can kill frogs within an hour'

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Common pesticides 'can kill frogs within an hour'

Damian Carrington
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 24 January 2013 14.50 GMT

Widely used pesticides can kill frogs within an hour, new research has revealed, suggesting the chemicals are playing a significant and previously unknown role in the catastrophic decline of amphibians around the world.

The scientists behind the work said it was both "astonishing" and "alarming" that common pesticides could be so toxic at the doses approved by regulatory authorities, adding to growing criticism of how pesticides are tested.

"You would not think products registered on the market would have such a toxic effect," said Carsten Brühl, at the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany. "It is the simplest effect you can think of: you spray the amphibian with the pesticide and it is dead. That should translate into a dramatic effect on populations."

"This is a valuable addition to the substantial body of literature detailing how existing standards for the use of agricultural pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers are inadequate for the protection of biodiversity," said ecologist Trenton Garner, at the Zoological Society of London.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/24/pesticides-kill-frogs-within-hour

[polly7]

1. I haven't seen a frog in years.

I help a friend put in his crop and take it off every year and we eat our lunch or take stretching breaks beside the nearest slough. I can't remember the last time I saw a frog. Years ago they were everywhere. It's really sad.

[lonestarnot]

2. So they killed frogs intentionally?

We knew the fucking pesticide would do that before they killed the poor damn things.