Routine measures used to control the larval stages of non-statutory leafminer species in the United Kingdom rely largely on either the use of the braconid parasitoid Dacnusa sibirica Telenga and the eulophid wasp Diglyphus isaea Walker as, for example, in tomato crops, or on chemical insecticides for control in leafy salad and ornamental plants (Garthwaite and Thomas, 2001). The availability of...

Current methods to estimate exposure of wildlife to pesticides from diet depend on a database of published residue concentrations on crop plants normalized to a standard application rate to obtain a residue from a unit dosage (RUD). This database, first published in the early 1970s, was updated in the 1990s. For each category of crops, maximum and mean residues are determined and used to extrap...

The potential impact of GM crops on biodiversity has been a topic of interest both in general as well as specifically in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Agricultural biodiversity has been defined at levels from genes to ecosystems that are involved or impacted by agricultural production (www.cbd.int/agro/whatis.shtml). After fifteen years of commercial cultivation, a subs...

2015 was a milestone marking the 20th anniversary of the commercial introduction of genetically engineered (GE) crops. Global acceptance of this technology by 18 million farmers has resulted in more than 181 million hectares planted in GE crops (http:// www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/default). This includes greater than 90% of all soybeans, upland cotton, and corn planted in the Un...

BACKGROUND There is currently a lack of reliable information on the exposures of residents and bystanders to pesticides in the UK. Previous research has shown that the methods currently used for assessing pesticide exposure for regulatory purposes are appropriate for farm workers 1. However, there were indications that the exposures of bystanders may sometimes be underestimated. The previous st...

BACKGROUND Recent advances in GIS technology and remote sensing have provided new opportunities to collect ecologic data on agricultural pesticide exposure. Many pesticide studies have used historical or records-based data on crops and their associated pesticide applications to estimate exposure by measuring residential proximity to agricultural fields. Very few of these studies collected envir...