More than a hundred molecules from insecticides, herbicides and fungicides have been detected in small mammals of French agricultural zones.
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insecticides, herbicides, fungicides … More than a hundred different molecules: this is a team of around twenty French and Luxembourg researchers led by Céline Pelosi (INRAE) and Clémentine Fritsch (CNRS) discovered By analyzing the exposure to pesticides of small familiar fauna of French agricultural areas. Their work, published in the latest edition of the journal Scientific Reports, are the first to document the impregnation of small wild mammals to agrotoxic as precisely.
“Our results question the effectiveness of wildlife protection measures vis-à-vis pesticides,” write the authors. They suggest the existence of risks hitherto unsuspected for ecosystems, generated by simultaneous and chronic exposure to a large number of traces of synthetic substances. Researchers offer the concept of “Biowidening” to describe the enlargement of the spectrum of exhibitions found in food chains. “It is very different from what was observed half a century ago, with strong exhibitions to a small number of chemicals”, details Clémentine Fritsch, researcher in the chrono-environment laboratory (CNRS, University of France-Comté ).
The authors have used a hundred musagnes (Crocidura Russula) and Mulots (belonging to two species of the genus Apodemus), captured in two workshop zones used for long -term research projects, one in the Jura, the other in Deux-Sèvres. They then looked for the presence of 140 different substances by analyzing the hairs of these small wild vertebrates. “What struck us the most is the great multiplicity of the molecules found,” explains Clémentine Fritsch. One hundred and twelve molecules were found at least once, and all of the animals captured were impregnated with at least one of them.
Between thirty and sixty different substances have been detected on each individual. Forty were found on three quarters of the animals analyzed. The researchers have proceeded by classifying the products sought in two categories: products that are sometimes long time prohibited, but which persist in ecosystems, and those still in use. The researchers expected generalized and low noise contamination for old persistent molecules and sporadic contaminations for seconds. It was not the case. “New generations of pesticides are supposed to have been designed to persist less in the environment and not accumulate along the food chain, explains M Me friesch. But, despite that, we detects them as frequently as old molecules. “
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