Suspected environmental poisoning by drugs, household products and pesticides in domestic animals

Does Insect Aversion Lead to Increased Household Pesticide Use?

In many human societies, domestic insect pests often evoke feelings of disgust, fear and aversion. These common feelings may translate to increased use of household pesticides. No study has ever explored this possibility and consequently, efforts to mitigate public exposure to domestic pesticides typically focus on addressing knowledge gaps. We tested the hypothesis that negative emotions toward insects may motivate people to use pesticides, by interviewing 70 participants and assessing their insect aversion levels using a computerized test. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found no effect of insect aversion on pesticide use. However, we did find that personal attributes and preferences such as wishing to avoid exposure to toxic chemicals, being vegetarian and taking frequent nature walks reduced pesticide use, in addition to low infestation levels and physical attributes of the housing unit. We emphasize the importance of conducting future studies in various societies, where insect aversion and other factors may have different effects on household pesticide use. Such studies may provide culture-specific insights that could foster the development of next-generation urban IPM (Integrated Pest Management) public education programs, which will address not only knowledge gaps, but also emotional aspects and personal attributes that lead to unnecessary or excessive use of household pesticides.

Exposure of wild boars (Sus scrofa L) to neonicotinoid insecticides

The aim was to determine, for the first time, concentrations of 7 neonicotinoids (NEOs) and 5 metabolites in Sus scrofa from hunting areas in north-eastern Poland and assess the risk to consumers eating boar meat. 42 wild boar muscle samples were collected over a one-year period. The concentrations of 12 NEOs were determined by a fully validated LC-ESI-MS/MS protocol based on ultrasonic, freezing and cleanup EMR-lipid sample preparation. NEOs were present in over 83% of samples, 17% had no residue, and one pesticide was present in 36% of samples. Most often found were: clothianidin (35%), acetamiprid and imidacloprid (33%), thiacloprid (31%), thiamethoxam (9%), and the average concentrations were (ng g^-1): thiacloprid 6.2 > imidacloprid 5.7 > acetamiprid 4.6 > clothianidin 2.2 > thiacloprid 1.6 > thiamethoxam 1.0. Multi-residue samples were found, one with 7 and one with 5 NEOs. Two NEOs were present in 24%; 3 in 39% and 4 in 10% of samples. In the metabolic degradation of acetamiprid, imidacloprid and thiacloprid, it was observed that metabolites account for no more than 8.5% of the measured parent substance. Acetamiprid-n-desmethyl was noted most often (21%). Due to the detection of NEOs in a large proportion of samples, chronic and acute risk assessment were performed. The estimated chronic and acute risk for consumers from NEOs neonicotinoids through the consumption of wild boar was very low and amounted to respectively 0.02% of ADI and 0.86% of ARfD.

Impact of broad-spectrum pesticides used in the agricultural and forestry sector on the pesticide profile in wild boar, roe deer and deer and risk assessment for venison consumers

The present work is the first extensive study of large-scale pesticides research in wild animals. The investigation covered three game species: wild boar (n = 42), roe deer (n = 79) and deer (n = 15) collected from north-eastern Poland. To characterize the 480 pesticides in muscle samples, LC-GC-MS/MS techniques were used. A total of 28 compounds were detected: 5 neonicotinoids, 6 organochlorine and 5 other insecticides, 9 fungicides and 4 herbicides, in the range of 0.1-85.3 ng g^-1. Over four hundred detections were done. The highest mean concentrations were as follows: anthraquinone (85.3 ng g^-1) > DDT-p,p' (4.6 ng g^-1) > imidacloprid (4.3 ng g^-1) > permethrin (3.6 ng g^-1) > thiacloprid (2.8 ng g^-1). DDT and metabolites were the most frequently detected, followed by acetamiprid, tebuconazole, clothianidin and imidacloprid. Overall, 92% samples with residues were recorded, including 100% of wild boar, 88% of roe deer and 86% of deer. More than one pesticide (up to 9) was found in over 73% of the tested samples. The estimated chronic and acute risk to consumers of venison were very low (below 1% ADI and ARfD). This interdisciplinary study may be helpful for estimating ecological risk to wild animals and risk to consumers of wild animal products, and also as a source of biomonitoring data.