Pesticides and their effects on wildlife
About 560 active ingredients are currently used as pesticides. Applications of these pesticides are made to agricultural lands and other areas inhabited by wildlife. Unfortunately, many agricultural-use pesticides also entail some measure of risk to organisms other than the pest species. Because testing of pesticides prior to registration cannot evaluate all the potential environmental-pesticide-wildlife/fish interactions, current methods of risk assessment do not always provide sufficient safety to nontarget organisms. This is evidenced by die-offs of fish and wildlife from applications of pesticides at environmentally {open_quotes}safe{close_quotes} rates, the linking of population declines of some species with agrochemical use, and observations of survival-threatening behavioral changes in laboratory and field animals exposed to typical field levels of pesticides. It is important to note, however, that the majority of pesticides, when properly applied, have not caused significant injury to wildlife. A brief summary of pesticide effects on wildlife and fish are presented for the common classes of pesticides in use today.
- Research Organization:
- Battelle Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 10163013
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-23736; CONF-940191-1; ON: DE94014493; TRN: 94:007475
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Northwest Alfalfa Seed Growers conference,Reno, NV (United States),31 Jan - 1 Feb 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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