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Runoff from golf courses that use fungicides can crash ecosystems from the bottom up, according to a new study.
New study details lethal impacts of a fungicide commonly used on golf courses around the world
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Despite the lessons learned from the effects of DDT, people continue to use chemicals in the same organochlorine family, to the detriment of natural ecosystems.
Now, University of South Florida researchers have shown that one of the world’s most common fungicides is lethal to a wide variety of freshwater organisms and essentially crashes ecosystems from the bottom up.
Biologists Taegan McMahon and Jason Rohr tested the effects of Chlorothalonil, a common fungicides used pervasively on food crops and golf courses. Even at levels below those deemed safe by the EPA, the chemical killed amphibians, snails, zooplankton, algae, and aquatic plants The loss of these herbivores and plants freed the algae from predation and competition, which eventually resulted in algal blooms that were similar to the effects of eutrophication. (more…)
Filed under: biodiversity, Environment, Summit County news | Tagged: Chlorothalonil, Environment, fungicides, pesticides, Silent Spring, University of South Florida | 1 Comment »
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