The EU sets the global standard for pesticide regulation. However, many believe that the current approval process is in need of reform. A new legislative package aims to simplify the process. From the researchers’ perspective, the package poses significant risks to the environment and human health. In an article in the journal Science, an international research team from 27 European research institutions, led by the University of Freiburg, warns that key protective mechanisms could be weakened. At the same time, the authors highlight ways to make authorization procedures more efficient without endangering environmental and health protection. Carsten Brühl, from the RPTU, is one of the co-authors.
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SystemLink Continental Field Sampling
The third cohort of the SystemLink graduate college at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau has launched a large-scale continental field study across Europe to understand how environmental stressors drive changes through aquatic–terrestrial ecosystem interactions.
Continue readingLight pollution and invasive species: how spiders’ diets change
Night-time lighting and invasive species are changing food webs in ways we rarely notice. In this blog post, Collins explores how artificial light at night and invasive signal crayfish reshape spider diets and alter aquatic-terrestrial resource pathways.
Continue readingWhy should an ecotoxicologist care about evolution?
Pollutant exposure can trigger rapid evolutionary changes in aquatic insects. In this blog post, Nina shares insights from a multigeneration experiment on how evolution can influence the effects of pollutants on the aquatic insect Chironomus riparius.
Continue readingPIA: How exposed are insects in agricultural fields to pesticides?
A Master thesis opportunity to assess terrestrial insect exposure to currently used agricultural pesticides is being offered as part of the project PIA (Pesticide exposure of insects in agricultural landscapes) within the Community Ecology & Ecotoxicology research group.
Continue readingPesticide Toxicity is Rising — And It’s Putting the UN’s 2030 Biodiversity Goal at Risk
In this post, Jakob Wolfram and Ralf Schulz talk about their recent study published in Science, uncovering that the total applied toxicity of pesticides is rising, thus threatening the UN Biodiversity goal (COP15) of reducing pesticide risks globally by 50%.
Continue readingNew study reveals pesticide cocktail contamination in European apples
A new study by the European Pesticide Action Network (PAN Europe) assessing pesticide contamination in apples across Europe reveals that 85% of sampled apples contained several pesticide residues, with some apples showing traces of up to 7 different chemicals.
Continue readingBelgian Conference on Ecotoxicology (BCE) 2026
The Belgian Conference in Ecotoxicology (BCE 2026) is pleased to announce its first edition, taking place at the University of Mons (UMONS), Belgium, from 28 to 30 October 2026.
Continue readingNew study links low-dose chlorpyrifos concentrations with effects on aging in wild fish
A 2026 study by researchers from China and the US has linked chronic low-dose chlorpyrifos exposure to accelerated telomere shortening and aging in wild lake fish.
Continue readingFXMATE: Statistical Evaluation of Ecotoxicity Effects MAde Totally Easy
In this post, Landau alumni Jochen Zubrod talks about FXMATE, their new open-access tool developed to make ecotoxicity data analysis more transparent and reproducible through an intuitive and standardized statistical workflow.
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