The rise of own-brand labels has made retailers more vulnerable and responsive to consumer concerns. In response to widespread protest, the European food industry has sought to exclude GM ingredients and to minimize pesticide usage from their supplies. In particular, retailers have developed common practices or criteria for non-GM grain and lower-pesticide methods. This cooperative approach has...

The control of medically important arthropod vectors of human and animal disease is a high priority for both public health and military officials. Because droplet size of pesticide spray material is a critical factor affecting vector control applications, the droplet-size spectra produced by 11 sprayers and 3 spray formulations were evaluated. Droplet-size spectra were measured by a laser diffr...

Problem Defined: Each year, Wisconsin growers produce carrots on an average of 4200 acres grossing over $6 million dollars in revenues (USDA-NASS, 2007 annual bulletin). Unfortunately, carrot fields are threatened annually by the occurrence of aster yellows phytoplasma (AYp), which is obligately transmitted by the aster leafhopper (Macrosteles quadrilineatus Forbes). Current control practices s...

BACKGROUND Insecticides are commonly used for ant control around residential homes, but post-treatment runoff may contribute to contamination of surface water in urban watersheds. This study represents the first instance where runoff of insecticides was directly measured after applications around single family residences. During 2007, houses were treated with bifenthrin or fipronil sprays follo...

Chronic exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides has been linked to reduced survival of pollinating insects at both the individual and colony level, but so far only experimentally. Analyses of large-scale datasets to investigate the real-world links between the use of neonicotinoids and pollinator mortality are lacking. Moreover, the impacts of neonicotinoid seed coatings in reducing subsequent a...

BACKGROUND Maternal folic acid (FA) protects against developmental toxicity from certain environmental chemicals. OBJECTIVE We examined combined exposures to maternal FA and pesticides in relation to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHODS Participants were California children born from 2000-2007 who were enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) case...

Most of the work which has been done on trace elements in soils has been in relation to deficiency or toxicity effects on plants. Although a certain amount of work has been reported on the effects of trace elements on ammonification and nitrification in soils 12 a 4 5 6 the results obtained are conflicting. Trace elements may be introduced into soil where pesticide sprays e.g. copper fungicides...

A supporting stand to suspend rotating impactors and mosquito cages is a requirement for field tests during pesticide efficacy trials. We present schematics for a collection device and associated support system for sampling droplets of ultra-low-volume (ULV) sprays during mosquito adulticide applications. This system offers the advantages of cost efficiency, increased ease of deployment, off-se...

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) sprays can improve flow accuracy by adjusting duty cycle and frequency signal which accurately controls the relative proportion of opening time solenoid valve. The objective this research was to determine impacts PWM on spray drift characteristic. Spray tests were conducted in a wind tunnel with variable-rate spraying system. airborne sediment determined tracer meth...