Here's how pesticide math works: 1 + 1 = more than 2. Here's how pesticide laws and regulations work: 1 + 1 = 2.
You can expose fish to pesticides based on the laws and regulations, and they'll die when the fish do the real pesticide math.
Translated into geeky science language: a new study says the effects of pesticide mixtures on fish is worse than simply adding up the effects of individual pestices. This is a bummer, because the regulations that are supposed to protect fish assume that the effects are additive.
So the fish get hosed.
When will we get smarter about this stuff? Tweet
5 comments:
When scientific findings start guiding regulations more than industry and special interests...so, never.
Now! It's time to make it happen. If we can't make a difference during this administration, when will we ever have a better chance to base our effort on good science? All of the good people stuck in stodgy agencies without hope of being able to use the scientific vitality and idealism they had in college, now may have a chance to make solid contributions to advance our relationship to the natural world.
Ask pointedly investigative questions at every turn!
Ray Kinney
Call me anthropocentric, but given some basic similarities in our nervous systems, my guess is that these cocktails are affecting us humans the same way. Making the connection to humans might be helpful for influencing policy...not to say of course that fish aren't important in their own right.
When we take the profit out and put the punishment in.
"Scientists ... were surprised to find a deadly synergy occurred with some combinations, which made the mix more harmful"
How is that possible for them to be surprised by this??? In 1962, Rachel Carson published "Silent Spring" which, among many other things, summarized specific scientific works done in the 50's on dramatic increases in toxicity of combinations of chemicals such as malathion, etc.
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