Continuining our theme of education this year, at our June meeting Dr Lorinda Hart, who is the Birds & Agrochemicals PM at BirdLife South Africa (BLSA), gave us an in depth insights into this important project which is looking at the effect of pesticides, fungicides and insecticides on bird populations. Her work informs the long term mitigation strategy, putting BLSA at the forefront of such research. BLSA has recognised agriculture as a major risk to birds globally.
Lorinda’s talk focussed on crops. Between 1990 and 2021, global usage of chemicals increased by 83%. In South Africa, it increased by 170%. The southern hemispehere countries generally have less strict rules than the northern, such as Europe, but those countries can still produce and export products that are banned in their own territory. There are 570 active ingredients used in these products; as an example 225 of them are banned in the UK, but in South Africa it’s only 19.
The active ingredient is the part that makes the product work, for example stopping photosynthesis, and the amount per product differs. They are combined to make thousands of products, more than 9,000 in South Africa, but there is a lot of secrecy around it. The legislation is fragmented and out of date, and the Minister can override legislation to approve anything. Residues are also not regulated. All in our, our standards are low compared to other places.
Research has shown that pesticides only reach 0.1 – 2% of their intended target. As a side effect they affect other organisams including birds. Birds are a great barometer of global planetary health because we know a lot about them and their physiology. Please keep using BirdLasser – this data is crucial.
Birds are more susceptible than mammals to toxins because:
- they eat more relative to their size
- they have a smaller liver (the organ that handles toxins)
- pesticides bind to the fat in their eggs, making the yolk toxic
- some ingredients mimic oestrogens which disrupts reproduction
Southern hemisphere birds are particularly vulnerable because they generally live longer and have a smaller clutch size, i.e. they reproduce more slowly.
Lorinda went on to bust some myths about the use of chemicals, explain more about how the chemicals affect birds, and tell us about the assessments that she and her team have carried out on chemicals used in the South African wine industry. In summary, they found that:
- 20% of agrochemicals used in wine are problematic in acute stage (short term), especially insecticides.
- 50% problematic longer term e.g. affecting reproduction
Of the agrochemicals used in producing wine:
- 32% are HHPs (Highly Hazardous Pesticides)
- 46% are banned in other countries
- 26% are endocrine disruptors
- 15% are carcinogens
- 13% have reproductive toxicity
The ultimate aim is to get these products banned but at the moment we can guide and advise. Farmers can be assessed to receive a Sustainability Certificate.
The level of interest in Linda’s presentation was evident in the range of questions asked by members. For example, there was an interesting discussion about how products can be misused on the farm because workers do not understand how to mix them or do not follow procedures.
Thank you Linda for this very enlightening and important discussion. Linda also acknowledged Rifcon, a European environmental risk assessment company, who sponsor the project.
