Tag Archives: Brühl

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

Aerial photo. Pesticide application in vineyards. Photo: Carsten A. Brühl

Landau, 21.01.2025 – In conventional agriculture, synthetic chemical pesticides are used in various crops such as arable farming, vegetable growing and viticulture. A study by the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau, recently published in the journal “Scientific Reports”, is the first to examine pesticide contamination over the course of a year. It shows that substances can be detected not only during the spraying periods in the fields, but also throughout the year and in adjacent meadows. The impact of these chronically detected complex pesticide mixtures on the environment has not been sufficiently investigated and could be significant.

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Residues of helicopter applied pesticides in and around vineyards at the river Mosel

Members of the Ecotoxicology and Community Ecology team sample soil and vegetation from the slopes of the river Mosel

In this blog post, Lorenz Witt and Ken Mauser provide some background on an excursion to the Mosel Valley. Their objective was to investigate the exposure of terrestrial non-target ecosystems to pesticides, potentially threatening the remaining habitat of a critically endangered butterfly species.

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Highlights of 2023 (Part 2)

In this second and final installment of the ‘Highlights of 2023’ series, we give our readers a glance of another 3 most visited posts in this year. 

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Beyond the classroom: 1st semester ends on the field

In May 2023, a group of M.Sc. Ecotoxicology students along with Carsten Brühl went to the Ecosystem Research Facility, Eusserthal (EERES) and the Riparian Stream Mesocosms (RSM). This excursion was a part of a module in the study program of M.Sc. Environmental Pollution Management (Ecotoxicology). In this blogpost, Danisa Lione and Hajar Bourassi (student representatives of the 2022 cohort), present some brief details about the excursion and their experience.

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The Impact of Pesticides on Biodiversity: A Case Study of Banana Production in Costa Rica

In this blog post, Carsten Brühl is explaining the background and findings of a review produced together with colleagues of the Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET) at Universidad Nacional (UNA), in Costa Rica that focusses on pesticide use in banana plantations and addresses exposure and effects in environment and human health. The review is the result of a DFG – Conare collaboration funding.

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Glimpse of 2022 (Part 2)

In this second installment of the ‘Glimpse of the year 2022’ series, we give our readers a glance of another 3 most visited posts in this year. 

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EcotoxBlog welcomes newbies of Master’s in Environmental Pollution Management (Ecotoxicology) for the year 2022

In this post, Carsten Brühl and Jakob Wolfram welcome the cohort 2022 of the Master’s in Environmental Pollution Management (Ecotoxicology) here in Landau. Twenty-three students will study how environmental stressors can adversely impact our environments and how these risks can be alleviated.

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Future of food and farming: Politico Summit in Paris (September 2022)

In this blog post, Carsten Brühl is reporting on a panel discussion on the EU pesticide reduction program he was involved in at the Politico “Future of food and farming” Summit that took place in Paris in September 2022.

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