Pesticide and herbicide contamination refers to the presence and persistence of synthetic or natural plant protection chemicals and their transformation products in environmental compartments such as soil, surface water, groundwater, sediments, air, and biota. Research on this topic examines sources (agricultural runoff, spray drift, leaching, improper disposal), transport and fate processes (sorption–desorption, volatilization, photolysis, hydrolysis, biodegradation), and bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food webs. It also encompasses mixture toxicity, sublethal and chronic effects on non-target organisms, development of resistance, and the use of monitoring, risk assessment frameworks, and remediation or mitigation strategies to manage and reduce ecological and human health risks.
New research from the Integral Ecology Research Center (IERC) offers some of the clearest evidence yet that California's efforts to restrict dangerous rodenticides are paying off in the wild, while also flagging a new contaminant ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 29, 2026
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In a win for pollinator conservation, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have developed a machine learning-based method to identify chemical compounds that can safely repel honey bees from pesticide-treated ...
Ecology
Sep 24, 2026
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Two are better than one when it comes to sampling methods for tracking the location and timing of toxic chemical contamination in waterways, according to researchers at Penn State. The team tested two typical sampling approaches ...
Environment
Sep 16, 2026
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Two newly published studies from Trinity College Dublin scientists raise significant concerns about the use of agricultural fungicides.That is because they show fungicides can rapidly drive soil microbes to evolve multidrug ...
Ecology
Sep 11, 2026
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This summer, you may have wondered why you are seeing so few insects squished on your car's windshield compared with a road trip several years ago.
Ecology
Sep 8, 2026
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Extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and torrential rains, affect water quality in lakes, rivers and coastal areas. This creates significant challenges for ecosystems and water supplies because pesticides bound ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 1, 2026
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12
Two-thirds of Americans favor banning the use of the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in the popular weedkiller Roundup, on crops grown in the United States, according to a nationally representative survey conducted ...
Ecology
Aug 21, 2026
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30
Rat poisons used in homes, businesses and on farms are moving into South Africa's wildlife, according to new research from the Urban Caracal Project, a key research and education initiative based in the Institute for Communities ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 19, 2026
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13
On a summer day in Michigan, a tiny Poweshiek skipperling butterfly—smaller than a quarter—takes flight over a restored prairie.
Plants & Animals
Aug 14, 2026
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35
For thousands of years, farmers in the Pacific have lived in harmony with their environment. But rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall and tired soils are testing even the most experienced hands.
Agriculture
Aug 14, 2026
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