Toxicity from farm chemicals increased for most species groups between 2013 and 2019, with insects worst affected
Ecological harm from pesticides is growing globally, a study has found, with bugs, fish, pollinators and land-based plants among six species groups hit hardest.
Insects suffered the greatest increase in harm from synthetic farm chemicals between 2013 and 2019, the study shows, with “applied” toxicity rising by 42.9%, followed by soil organisms, which saw an increase of 30.8%.
Aquatic plants and land-based vertebrates were the only two groups for which the danger fell.
World leaders promised to halve the risks from pesticides by the end of the decade at a 2022 UN summit. Last year, the UN adopted an indicator of progress known as total applied toxicity (TAT), which factors in the different levels of harm that chemicals cause different species.
