We reported previously that insecticide exposures were widespread among minority women in New York City during pregnancy and that levels of the organophosphate chlorpyrifos in umbilical cord plasma were inversely associated with birth weight and length. Here we expand analyses to include additional insecticides (the organophosphate diazinon and the carbamate propoxur), a larger sample size (n =...

From October 2000 to April 2001, insecticide bioassays were conducted in 18 ranches from 10 counties in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, in Central Brazil. Horn flies from wild populations were exposed to diazinon-impregnated filter papers immediately after collection on cattle, and mortality was recorded after 2 h. A high susceptibility to diazinon was observed in all tested p...

Thirty years of control of the mosquito Culex pipiens using organophosphate insecticides (OP) has selected for OP-resistance alleles on a world-wide scale. As reviewed here, studies at the levels of gene and population allow identification of the main forces driving this process of adaptation. Three loci are involved in OP-resistance in C. pipiens. For two of these, adaptive mutations were foun...

Fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are among the most economically important pest species in the world, attacking a wide range of fruits and fleshy vegetables throughout tropical and sub-tropical areas. These species are such devastating crop pests that major control and eradication programs have been developed in various parts of the world to combat them. The array of control methods includes ...

The tobacco-feeding race of Myzus persicae (Sulzer), formerly known as M. nicotianae Blackman, was introduced into Chile during the last decade. In order to evaluate the genetic diversity and insecticide resistance status of Chilean tobacco aphid populations, a field survey was conducted in 35 tobacco fields covering a 300 km latitudinal survey. The populations sampled were characterized using ...

Data concerning clinical cases of pesticide poisoning from 1998 to 2002 from the hospitals affiliated with the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine were analyzed. 346 cases of poisoning by agricultural chemicals were reported from 65 hospitals. Suicides accounted for 70% of pesticide poisoning cases, followed by accidental exposures during spraying work (16%) and accidental ingestion (8%). Th...

Exposure to pesticides is very common world-wide, and is broadly known the acute toxic effects to humans of pesticides following a high dose exposure; however, knowledge about chronic low-dose adverse effects to specific pesticides is more limited. Reproductive functions can be affected, with birth defects, impaired fecund ability, infertility and altered growth. This paper will focus on the de...

Carboxylesterasesare an important class of detoxification enzymes involved in insecticide resistance in insects. A subgroup of Helicoverpa armigera esterases, known as Clade 001, was implicated in organophosphate and pyrethroid insecticide resistance due to their overabundance in resistant strains. In this work, a novel carboxylesterasegene 001D of H. armigera from China was cloned, which has a...

BACKGROUND Culex quinquefasciatus collected in Uganda, where no vector control interventions directly targeting this species have been conducted, was used as a model to determine if it is possible to detect heterogeneities in selection pressure driven by insecticide application targeting other insect species. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Population genetic structure was assessed through mic...

Mosquitoes are found all over the world except in the Antarctica. Mosquitoes are two winged insects that belong to the insect order Dipteran. Members of the genera Aedes, Culex and Anopheles are well known and responsible for bites in humans. Only Female mosquitoes bite. This is because they require blood to assist in vitellogenesis. Feeding behaviour of mosquitoes is either classified as zooph...