Low Doses of Common pesticides damage birds

[Catherine]

University of Saskatchewan Biologists have been studying the effects of low doses of neonicotinoids and organophosphates on birds. It is known that larger doses are fatal. It seems that low doses are serious as well. They cause things like weight loss and disorientation, the inability to find  north. For migrating birds this would be fatal.

I don't like the fact that they experimented on live birds, but the information is still very important.

http://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/can...ient-birds



http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-new...s-research


We already know that these pesticides are killing our bees. Now we know they are destroying our birds. 
We have put these pesticides into the food chain so who knows what else is being effected.
What happens to a hawk that eats a dying song bird? We went through this with DDT and we wisely banned it. Why are we even using these chemicals at all when we know how toxic they are.

Something we should be considering is the fact that we have put these chemicals into the food chain and they are toxic and we are part of that food chain. What effect will they have on humans who ingest them? By the time we know it will be too late for the people who have been exposed. We don't seem to learn for all that we are an intelligent species.

[LPC]

These substances are severely restricted (almost banned) in Europe. See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU...026:en:PDF

Why the USA and Canada continue to condone such toxic substances is beyond me. Possibly very strong pharmaceutical company pressure? I don't how many other countries allow these chemicals.

The truth is, as with so many chemicals, no one knows what a "safe" dose is - until sometimes decades later, when the damage has already been done.

[Tobi]

In my view, intelligence is measured as the quality of response to any given situation. Or the ability to think in a "new" way about a problem, and find a workable solution.

Unfortunately humans are more likely to sacrifice intelligent responses for those which bring more monetary gain, or which cost less financially. And such solutions are not always the intelligent ones.

And then of course there are pressures from all sides from huge multi-national companies who take monetary gain and the sacrifice of intelligent responses to another level.

Like LPC says, the effects can't be known until a few years have passed. But already we can see birds are badly affected. It is obvious to me that anything which goes through the food chain affects humans. Do the companies care? My guess is no, they don't. Not while they are managing to make money.
That is the opposite of intelligence!

We are already finding out that neonicotinoid pesticides are depleting acetylcholine in the bees' brains. The bees get dementia and lose their cognitive abilities. They get lost, confused, can't navigate, can't find their way home....etc
Low levels of acetylcholine have been linked to the development of dementia in humans. I wouldn't be surprised if these cases, in bees as well as humans, had the same cause.

[Catherine]

Quote:These substances are severely restricted (almost banned) in Europe.

Why the USA and Canada continue to condone such toxic substances is beyond me. Possibly very strong pharmaceutical company pressure? I don't how many other countries allow these chemicals.

Europe is wise in its response to these chemicals. Of course Europe has depleted many of its ecosystems over the centuries. 
The system cannot tolerate much more abuse. North America has large amounts of wilderness so it still has the illusion that it is fine to mess with nature and there will be no consequences. We still have a lot of native species even if they are endangered. We just don't believe there is a problem.

I think there is a lot of financial pressure to use these chemicals. It is not just the farmers who want to use them. The big companies want to sell the products and make a profit. They don't care about the consequences. I suspect some of them do know of the dangers. They just put profit first.

Quote:In my view, intelligence is measured as the quality of response to any given situation. Or the ability to think in a "new" way about a problem, and find a workable solution.

We show a total lack of intelligence. Over the centuries we have frequently shown a lack of intelligence. Unfortunately we are able to use our technology to create big disasters with our lack of intelligence.

Quote:We are already finding out that neonicotinoid pesticides are depleting acetylcholine in the bees' brains. The bees get dementia and lose their cognitive abilities. They get lost, confused, can't navigate, can't find their way home....etc

Low levels of acetylcholine have been linked to the development of dementia in humans. I wouldn't be surprised if these cases, in bees as well as humans, had the same cause.

I think you are right. There is a tremendous increase in dementia in humans. It is an alarming epidemic. 
Our lack of intelligence is about to get much worse.

We are exposing ourselves to low levels of toxic chemicals and we have no idea what the results will be. The results we have seen so far are very bad, but we refuse to do anything. We are too busy coping with an aging population that has rising levels of dementia.
It is like we are living on the slopes of a volcano and we can see the mountain smoking, we can feel the ground shaking, but we refuse to believe that an eruption is possible. It is not only possible, it has already started.