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The Undead Pesticide:
The next time you're playing "The Walking Dead" and mowing down pesticide-ravaged zombies, give a thought to the trout in New Brunswick, Canada. Thanks to a lethal cocktail of the banned insecticide DDT, they're starring in the upsetting real-life sequel we could call "The Swimming Dead." This is the ultimate horror show where our negligence haunts us from the grave long after we thought we’d killed the villain off.
A Lethal Surprise in the Trout Trove:
Researchers have recently discovered that residues of the insecticide DDT persist at "alarming rates" in trout up to six decades after its use, potentially posing a significant danger to humans and wildlife which consume the fish. DDT, or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane for those who love a tongue-twister, was used on forested land in New Brunswick from 1952 to 1968. What's worse? Levels found in the fish are often 10 times higher than the recommended safety threshold for wildlife.
Undying Burden:
DDT, classified by health authorities as a “probable carcinogen”, is infamous for its ability to persist in lake mud for decades after application and many lakes in New Brunswick retain such high levels of legacy DDT that the sediments are a key source of pollution in the food web. While DDT was widely sprayed to handle pesky insects carrying diseases like malaria and typhus, it was eventually banned worldwide for mass agricultural use under the 2001 Stockholm Convention - in no small part due to its harmful effects on wildlife and potential carcinogenic properties.
Lessons for the Future:
The discovery of persistently high DDT levels in New Brunswick serves as a wakeup call. It's also a reminder of the consequences of our persistent reliance on synthetic chemicals. Lessons need to be learned to avoid repeating past mistakes. When considering other contaminants applied broadly today, such as road salt and herbicides, this study illustrates that we need to do things differently or our ecosystems will continue to face a lifetime of pollution. Running our ecological clock on ‘Snoop Dogg’ time and asking our environment to “Drop it like it’s hot might not be the best approach after all.
Can't Dodge The Fallout:
So turns out, even after banning it, you can't just break up with DDT and expect to move on. The fallout isn't just a radioactive cloud, It's sediment, lake mud and, of course, our unsuspecting fish friends. As we chow down on our trout and wonder why we find an uncanny resemblance to the 'Nuclear Apocalypse’ expansion pack for The Walking Dead, remember this — while the villain might be dead, the story isn't over.
The next time you're playing "The Walking Dead" and mowing down pesticide-ravaged zombies, give a thought to the trout in New Brunswick, Canada. Thanks to a lethal cocktail of the banned insecticide DDT, they're starring in the upsetting real-life sequel we could call "The Swimming Dead." This is the ultimate horror show where our negligence haunts us from the grave long after we thought we’d killed the villain off.
A Lethal Surprise in the Trout Trove:
Researchers have recently discovered that residues of the insecticide DDT persist at "alarming rates" in trout up to six decades after its use, potentially posing a significant danger to humans and wildlife which consume the fish. DDT, or Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane for those who love a tongue-twister, was used on forested land in New Brunswick from 1952 to 1968. What's worse? Levels found in the fish are often 10 times higher than the recommended safety threshold for wildlife.
Undying Burden:
DDT, classified by health authorities as a “probable carcinogen”, is infamous for its ability to persist in lake mud for decades after application and many lakes in New Brunswick retain such high levels of legacy DDT that the sediments are a key source of pollution in the food web. While DDT was widely sprayed to handle pesky insects carrying diseases like malaria and typhus, it was eventually banned worldwide for mass agricultural use under the 2001 Stockholm Convention - in no small part due to its harmful effects on wildlife and potential carcinogenic properties.
Lessons for the Future:
The discovery of persistently high DDT levels in New Brunswick serves as a wakeup call. It's also a reminder of the consequences of our persistent reliance on synthetic chemicals. Lessons need to be learned to avoid repeating past mistakes. When considering other contaminants applied broadly today, such as road salt and herbicides, this study illustrates that we need to do things differently or our ecosystems will continue to face a lifetime of pollution. Running our ecological clock on ‘Snoop Dogg’ time and asking our environment to “Drop it like it’s hot might not be the best approach after all.
Can't Dodge The Fallout:
So turns out, even after banning it, you can't just break up with DDT and expect to move on. The fallout isn't just a radioactive cloud, It's sediment, lake mud and, of course, our unsuspecting fish friends. As we chow down on our trout and wonder why we find an uncanny resemblance to the 'Nuclear Apocalypse’ expansion pack for The Walking Dead, remember this — while the villain might be dead, the story isn't over.
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