Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is known to increase risk of diabetes. The objective of the study was to determine which POPs are most associated with prevalence of diabetes in 601 Akwesasne Native Americans.

Original Source

Insect pollinators are essential for both the production of a large proportion of world crops and the health of natural ecosystems. As important pollinators, bumblebees must learn to forage on flowers to feed both themselves and provision their colonies. Increased use of pesticides has caused concern over sublethal effects on bees, such as impacts on reproduction or learning ability. However, little is known about how sublethal exposure to field-realistic levels of pesticide might affect the ability of bees to visit and manipulate flowers.

Organophosphorous (OP) pesticides are associated with reduced fetal growth in animals, but human studies are inconsistent. Researchers pooled data from four cohorts to examine associations of prenatal OP exposure with birth weight (n=1,169), length (n=1,152), and head circumference (n=1,143).

Original Source

European governments have banned the use of three common neonicotinoid pesticides due to insufficiently identified risks to bees. This policy decision is controversial given the absence of clear consistency between toxicity assessments of those substances in the laboratory and in the field. Although laboratory trials report deleterious effects in honeybees at trace levels, field surveys reveal no decrease in the performance of honeybee colonies in the vicinity of treated fields.

During 2007, counties across the Midwestern US with relatively high levels of landscape simplification (i.e., widespread replacement of seminatural habitats with cultivated crops) had relatively high crop-pest abundances which, in turn, were associated with relatively high insecticide application. These results suggested a positive relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use, mediated by landscape effects on crop pests or their natural enemies.