Pesticides could be damaging river biodiversity at levels that have been traditionally regarded as environmentally safe by authorities, suggests a new study.
Ecotoxicologist Dr Ben Kefford, of University of Technology, Sydney, and colleagues, report their findings online in Environmental Science & Technology.
"Pesticides are having an effect at 10 to 100 times lower concentrations than traditionally thought," says Kefford.
He says when authorities try to protect our streams and rivers from pesticides they rely on thresholds, under which it is assumed pesticides have no effect.
Read the full article in ABC Science website (opens an external site).
