More dead frogs

^quote The scientific community is increasingly recognizing the role of chemical pollutants in amphibian decline. Though sadly, regulatory agencies do not: pesticides are not even required to be tested on amphibians before the pesticide is approved. Brühl commented to The Guardian that “We could only find one study for one pesticide that was using an exposure likely to occur on farmland.” This study, then, fills a research void in understanding the impacts of pesticides to amphibians. The study tested an array of seven insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides on the juvenile European Common Frog (Rana temporaria) at three different doses, the recommended dose, a tenth the dose, and ten times the recommended dose. One of the most striking results was for pyraclostrobin, a fungicide manufactured by BASF and sold as the product “Headline”: The product killed all of the frog within an hour when applied at label recommended rates. Others demonstrated acute toxicity even when researchers applied a tenth of the dose recommended on the label. For example, dimethoate, a toxic insecticide used on everything from asparagus and cherries, to tangerines and wheat, killed 40% of all frogs within a week of application. ^end quote from http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=9269 And of course these toxins have virtually no effect on us. Hmmmmmm “wheat” I wonder what wheat plants metabolize these toxins into. They’re not even fully testing the actual toxins let alone putting the time, effort, and money into investigating what the toxins break down into. And of course they are then testing those unknown breakdown products on people, pets, and frogs.