PESTICIDES MAY DECIMATE AMPHIBIANS: NEWS FROM TWO SOURCES

[Reproduced from www.usgs.org]

Pesticides Found in Amphibians from Remote Areas in California

A Pacific Chorus frog in meadow located in Yosemite National Park. Photo credit: Devin Edmonds, USGS
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Amphibians from remote locations in California have accumulated several current-use pesticides, including fungicides, in their bodies. A team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists recently reported on field results in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Two fungicides, pyraclostrobin and tebuconazole, and the herbicide simazine were detected frequently in amphibians from all sites sampled. The USGS study is the first to document the occurrence of these fungicides in amphibians and one of the first studies to measure fungicides in tissue.

Frog populations are declining worldwide and pesticides are thought to be one of the contributing causes, acting singly or in combination with other stressors. Not much is known about the exposure of frogs to pesticides, especially in remote areas (areas away from where pesticides are applied). The scientists looked at pesticides in Pacific Chorus frogs (Pseudacris regilla) and their habitat (water and sediment) in seven remote, high-elevation locations in California (including Giant Sequoia National Monument, Yosemite National Park, and Lassen Volcanic National Park). Chorus frogs were studied because they are found in a broad geographic area, they are still relatively abundant, and USGS scientists have been investigating their decline for over a decade. Fungicides (pesticides used to control fungal diseases) were found in adult male frogs from all sites. The sites sampled were downwind of California’s Central Valley; a potential cause of exposure may be from pesticides transported to these locations via precipitation and dust. Data generated from this study indicate that amphibians residing in these remote locations are exposed to and capable of taking up current-use pesticides.

This study was funded by the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, and Wildlife: Terrestrial and Endangered Resources Program.

USGS scientist collecting water samples from an amphibian monitoring site in Livermore, California. Photo credit: James Orlando, USGS
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References

Smalling, K.L., Fellers, G.M., Kleeman, P.M., and Kuivila, K.M., 2013, Accumulation of pesticides in Pacific Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris regilla) from California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, v. 32, no. 9, p. 2026-2034, doi:10.1002/etc.2308 (public access pdf file — — journal Web page).

[Reproduced from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/24/pesticides-kill-frogs-within-hour]

Common pesticides 'can kill frogs within an hour'

New research suggests the chemicals are playing a significant and previously unknown role in the global decline of amphibians

A red-eyed treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas): more than one-third of all amphibians endangered. Photograph: Peter Lilja/Getty Images

1. Damian Carrington
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Widely used pesticides can kill frogs within an hour, new research has revealed, suggesting the chemicals are playing a significant and previously unknown role in the catastrophic global decline of amphibians.

The scientists behind the study said it was both "astonishing" and "alarming" that common pesticides could be so toxic at the doses approved by regulatory authorities, adding to growing criticism of how pesticides are tested.