Paris (AFP) - Neurotoxic
pesticides blamed for the world's bee collapse are also harming
butterflies, worms, fish and birds, said a scientific review that called
Tuesday for tighter regulation to curb their use.
Analysing two
decades of reports on the topic, an international panel of 29 scientists
found there was "clear evidence of harm" from use of two pesticide
types, neonicotinoids and fipronil.
And the evidence was "sufficient to trigger regulatory action".
"We
are witnessing a threat to the productivity of our natural and farmed
environment," said Jean-Marc Bonmatin of France's National Centre for
Scientific Research, co-author of the report entitled the Worldwide
Integrated Assessment.
Far
from protecting food production, these nerve-targeting insecticides
known as neonics were "imperilling the pollinators, habitat engineers
and natural pest controllers at the heart of a functioning ecosystem."
The
four-year assessment was carried out by The Task Force on Systemic
Pesticides, which advises the International Union for Conservation of
Nature, the world's watchdog on species loss.
Neonics are widely
used insecticides whose effects can be instant and lethal, or chronic.
Exposure can impair smell and memory in some species, curb procreation,
reduce foraging, cause flight difficulties and increase disease
susceptibility.
Used for
insect pest management in farming, but also in pet flea control, they
have been fingered in the recent decline in bees -- crucial pollinators
of human food crops -- in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
The
latest study says these pesticides, absorbed by plants, are also
harming other insect pollinators, fish and birds as they leach into soil
and water.
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