We read with interest the analysis by Shelton et al. (2014) of the relationships between maternal proximity to insecticide applica­ tion and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and developmental delay (DD) in children. Although we commend the investigators’ efforts to identify, recruit, and enroll parents of children with ASDs or DD, absent is any confirmation of exposures or that the active ingre...

Policy measures are needed to reduce the risks associated with pesticides’ application in agriculture, resulting in more sustainable agricultural systems. Pesticide taxes can be an important tool in the toolkit of policy-makers and are of increasing importance in European agriculture. However, little is known about the effects of such tax solutions and their impacts on the environment, farmers,...

We read with interest the analysis by Shelton et al. (2014) of the relationships between maternal proximity to insecticide applica­ tion and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and developmental delay (DD) in children. Although we commend the investigators’ efforts to identify, recruit, and enroll parents of children with ASDs or DD, absent is any confirmation of exposures or that the active ingre...

Biotechnology has enriched the strategy set available to crop managers. Suppose a manager faces a decision between applying a pre-emergence pesticide or applying nothing at all. The advent of pesticide tolerance traits in plants admits the possibility of a state-contingent post-emergence application of pesticide. The innovation adds value in large part because it provides the manager with the o...

The modelling of organic pollutants in the environment is burdened by numerous uncertainties. Not only parameter values are uncertain but often also the mass and timing of pesticide application. By introducing transformation products (TPs) into modelling, further uncertainty, coming from the dependence of these substances on their parent compounds and the introduction of new model parameters, i...

Environmental pollution and habitat loss are described as underlying causes for population declines in reptiles and especially affect species in agricultural landscapes. Studies dealing with effects of pesticide exposure on reptiles are limited, mainly addressing the orders Testudines and Crocodylia, but largely neglecting the most diverse reptile order Squamata (lizards and snakes). As a conse...

SPIDER (simulating pesticides in ditches to assess ecological risk) is a locally distributed, capacitance-based model that accounts for pesticide entry into surface water bodies via spray drift, surface runoff, interlayer flow and drainage. SPIDER was developed for application to small agricultural catchments. Transport of pesticide from site of application to surface water via subsurface field...

Assessments of climate change and food security often do not consider changes to crop production as a function of altered pest pressures. Evaluation of potential changes may be difficult, in part, because management practices are routinely utilized in situ to minimize pest injury. If so, then such practices, should, in theory, also change with climate, although this has never been quantified. C...

BACKGROUND Pesticides and correlated lifestyle factors (e.g., exposure to well-water and farming) are repeatedly reported risk factors for Parkinson's disease (PD), but few family-based studies have examined these relationships. METHODS Using 319 cases and 296 relative and other controls, associations of direct pesticide application, well-water consumption, and farming residences/occupations ...

Distance learning presents great potential for mitigating field problems on pesticide application technology. Thus, due to the lack of teaching material about pesticide spraying technology in the Portuguese language and the increasing availability of distance learning, this study developed and evaluated a computer program for distance learning about the theory of pesticide spraying technology u...