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Study: Powerful Insecticides Found Widespread In Midwest Waters

Amy Mayer
/
Harvest Public Media

Powerful chemicals used by many farmers to ward off insects are making their way into Midwest rivers and streams, according to a study by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides popular with corn and soybean farmers, are similar to nicotine and have recently been blamed by some as a factor in the decline of U.S. bee colonies and other crop and flower pollinators. And the USGS study found the chemicals were common in streams throughout the Midwest.

“One of the reasons we thought it was really important to do this study was because the neonicotinoid use has increased quite dramatically in the last ten years in the Midwest,” said USGS scientist Kathy Kuivila, who led the research team. “Other insecticides are going away, the neonicotinoid use is increasing.”

The study sampled nine rivers and streams in Iowa, including the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and found the neonicotinoids in all of them. The research included waterways that drain parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana and Wisconsin.

Neonicotinoids are extremely popular. Many farmers plant corn or soybean seeds treated with a coating of the insecticide.

“They were found commonly in streams that drain a big portion of the corn and soybean belt in the Midwest,” Kuivila said. “In addition to detecting these frequently, we saw over the season that there was a strong pulse of the neonicotinoids during crop planting and after rainfall events.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has classified the neonicotinoids as not likely to be cancer-causing to humans. But some of the chemicals the team found are known to be toxic to aquatic organisms.

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