Intensive use of synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture may harm non-target organisms through sublethal effects on life-history traits. Farmland birds are exposed throughout their life cycle, but the fate of non-persistent pesticide mixtures in wild birds remains unknown. In this study, we investigated changes in pesticide contamination levels in Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus) nestlings during their growth. In total, 35 chicks were sampled twice during the rearing period, and blood was tested for 116 pesticides to assess pesticide load through two proxies; the number of pesticides detected and the sum of pesticide concentrations. Body mass and tarsus length were also measured to estimate body condition. Across the two sampling times, nine herbicides, five insecticides and four fungicides were detected. Contamination levels decreased significantly with nestling age irrespective of sampling date, and there was no relationship between pesticide load and body condition. Moreover, concentrations of chlorpyrifos-methyl, fenpropidin, metamitron, picloram and S-metolachlor, all detected throughout the rearing period, were unrelated to any of the explanatory variables. However, ethofumesate concentrations decreased significantly with chick age. This study provides the first evidence that non-persistent pesticide mixtures can decrease with age in wild nestlings. This has implications for understanding how chicks are contaminated and provides new insights on pesticide fate within organisms.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.120179 | DOI Listing |
Environ Res
January 2025
ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Spanish Consortium for Research and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address:
Background: Evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may perturb the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, which has a major role in brain development. We aimed to evaluate the effects of childhood exposure to organophosphate pesticides, phenols, and phthalate metabolites, on urinary glucocorticosteroids and inattention in childhood.
Methods: We used data from the Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) cohort (2013-2016) and the parametric g-formula to estimate associations between EDCs, glucocorticosteroids, and hit reaction time standard error (HRT-SE), a measure of inattention, and tested for possible effect modification by sex.
Environ Res
December 2024
UMR 7372, Centre D'Études Biologiques de Chizé, La Rochelle Université & CNRS, 79360, Villiers en Bois, France.
Intensive use of synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture may harm non-target organisms through sublethal effects on life-history traits. Farmland birds are exposed throughout their life cycle, but the fate of non-persistent pesticide mixtures in wild birds remains unknown. In this study, we investigated changes in pesticide contamination levels in Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus) nestlings during their growth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Pollut Res Int
September 2024
UMR 7372, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé, La Rochelle Université & CNRS, Villiers en Bois, 79360, France.
Biomonitoring of persistent pesticides in birds of prey has been carried out for decades, but few studies have investigated their relevance for the monitoring of non-persistent pesticides. Herein, we determined the contamination patterns of multiple pesticides in Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus) chicks in an intensive farming area of southwestern France. Blood samples from 55 chicks belonging to 22 nests in 2021 were assessed for 104 compounds (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, safeners and synergists).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Res
November 2024
Soil Physics and Land Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands.
The presence of pesticide residues in waterbed sediments poses a significant concern for aquatic ecosystems' health. This study examined pesticide contamination in sediments of 38 water bodies, embedded in agricultural-dominated regions, across eight European countries. Three indicators were targeted: occurrence, type, and concentrations of multiple pesticide residues in sediments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Endocrinol (Lausanne)
August 2024
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Physiology, Genetics, and Immunology, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
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