{"id":884,"date":"2022-11-03T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=884"},"modified":"2023-05-14T00:12:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T00:12:04","slug":"blog-post-about-plos-one-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=884","title":{"rendered":"Common pesticide harms soil organisms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In December 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team of researchers published a paper in PLOS One<\/a>, which is a high-profile research science journal for cutting edge results. The publication was the culmination of more than four years of work by several undergraduate students, at Vassar College and at Marist College, as well as work by myself and my colleague, who was then at Marist College, Dr. Paula Checchi. We examined how the pesticide mixture called Tree And Shrub (available at Lowe’s and Home Depot) affects important soil organisms called nematodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pesticide mixture contains a neonicotinoid pesticide, or neonic, that is widely used in agriculture and also in the home lawn and garden industry. The neonic is a highly toxic neurotoxin that wreaks havoc with honeybees, ladybugs and, really, most insects. Alarm bells are going off about the decline of beneficial pollinators, and neonics have been banned in Europe, but they are still prevalent in the US and the rest of the world. Neonics are so heavily applied that they are found in our waterways, the soil and even in the nectar and pollen of untreated plants. Neonics are found at low levels virtually everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wanted to know if low levels of this commercial pesticide, Tree and Shrub, had toxic effects on a soil nematode that’s not an insect, the little nematode, a round worm, called C. elegans<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We found that the Tree and Shrub didn’t kill the nematodes. But….it stunted their growth, hampered their ability to move around, reduced the number of eggs and the viability of their eggs, and made them more susceptible to heat stress. The exposed nematodes also suffered neurodegeneration. And, what’s really scary, the offspring of the exposed nematodes had reproductive problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recently created a short podcast using a company called SciPod. I put the link<\/a> on this post if you want to listen to a short summary of the scientific details of the study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line: this pesticide harms soil organisms that are not insects- so it is not the highly specific insecticide that Bayer company claims. The health of the soil is harmed by this chemical. Our work contributes to the growing awareness that neonics are harmful to lots of organisms and so should not be used to grow our food or to tend our gardens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In December 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team of researchers published a paper in PLOS One, which is a high-profile research science journal for cutting edge results. The publication was the culmination of more than four years of work by several undergraduate students, at Vassar College and at Marist College, as…<\/p>\n

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