“Insects and other arthropods are disappearing at an alarming rate all over Europe and pesticides play a major role.” Recently the European Pesticide Action Network (PAN) interviewed Professor Dr. Carsten Brühl, specialist in ecotoxicology.

His University Kaiserslautern-Landau recently published an alarming study in the journal “Scientific Reports”. Almost unbelievable but true, this was the first to examine pesticide contamination over the course of a year. They found a cocktail of pesticides not only during the spraying periods in the fields, but also throughout the year and in adjacent meadows.

The significant impact on the environment has hardly been investigated. The rapid loss of biodiversity is a disaster for our environment and jeopardises our food production, which depends on healthy and biodiverse ecosystems for pollination and fertile soil. The current EU pesticide regulation is failing, as was shown in our recent report ‘Licence to Kill’.

PAN Europe Interview to Prof. Dr Carsten Brühl

You can read the full interview on the PAN Europe Blog or watch the video interview below

You can also read our previous post about the same paper: Exposure of insects to current use pesticide residues in soil and vegetation along spatial and temporal distribution in agricultural sites –  Carolina Honert, Ken Mauser, Ursel Jäger & Carsten A. Brühl , January 2025

Not only during application times: pesticide mixtures are present in soil and plants all year round

The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) is a science-based organisation with highly motivated toxicologists, legal experts and campaigners. Their analyses, reports and court cases influence EU policies and help to protect health and biodiversity. Together with their members in all EU countries we work to eliminate the dependency on pesticides and promote alternatives that work with instead of fight against nature.

They currently have a campaign called “Protect the arthropods, protect our food security“