Posts

Effects of insecticides on survival and reproduction of microarthropods in African and European soils

New publication: Effects of insecticides on survival and reproduction of microarthropods in African and European soils

In many parts of Africa, pesticides are used indiscriminately. Yet, ecotoxicological data relevant for the protection of soil organisms have usually been obtained under temperate conditions. In order to assess the effects of three commonly used insecticides (deltamethrin, dimethoate, chlorpyrifos) on microarthropods in African soils, uncontaminated natural soils were collected from Nigeria and Tunisia. In […]

Review of the ecotoxicity of boric acid in standard laboratory tests with plants and soil organisms

To verify the sensitivity of ecotoxicological tests, reference substances with known toxicity are regularly tested. Ideally, such substances lack specificity in their mode action, are bioavailable and readily attainable, and their chemical characterisation is cost-effective. Boric acid satisfies these criteria, but has – due to reproductive effects in humans – most recently been characterised as […]