Protect Bats, Babies, and Biodiversity!
Stop Cycle of Increasing Pesticide Use with Ecosystem
and Bat Decline,
Resulting in Higher Infant
Mortality
Hello,
Shocking new research connects declines in
bat populations with increased human infant mortality. The connection is
increased pesticide use. The study by Eyal Frank, PhD, “The economic impacts
of ecosystem disruptions: Costs from substituting biological pest control,”
published in Science,
concludes with a finding that “declines in insect-eating bat population
levels induce farmers to substitute with insecticides, consequently resulting
in a negative health shock to infant mortality.”
BEYOND
PESTICIDES ACTION:
>> Tell your Governor and Mayor to stop the cycle
of increasing pesticide dependency tied to an imbalance in ecosystems
degraded by pesticide use and other factors—resulting in a loss of natural
insect management by bats and other wildlife that leads to rising pesticide
use and increasing infant mortality and public health threats.
Many farmers rely on bats as alternatives to insecticides to protect their
crops from insects, but the invasive fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, White-Nose
Syndrome (WNS) has caused a serious decline in bat populations since 2006.
Bats are also important in keeping mosquitoes under control. According to bat
experts, 52% of bat species in North America are at risk of severe declines
over the next 15 years. While there are numerous causes of fungal diseases,
pesticide use can increase vulnerability by depressing the immune system.
With the collapse of many bat populations from WNS found in caves that affect
bats during hibernation, farmers turn to toxic chemicals to replace the
ecosystem services bats usually provide. These chemicals, however, lead to
ripples through the ecosystem and endanger human health.
To determine the impacts on human health from these population declines, Dr.
Frank collected data from WNS-affected counties on insecticide use and infant
mortality from 2006-2017. In comparing these numbers, “after the onset of bat
die-offs, farmers in the county increase their insecticide use by 31.1%, on
average,” he states. “Infant mortality rates due to internal causes of death
(i.e., not due to accidents or homicides) increased by 7.9%, on average, in
the affected counties. This result highlights that real-world use levels of
insecticides have a detrimental impact on health, even when used within
regulatory limits.” These rates correspond to an additional 1,334 infant
deaths—for every 1% increase in pesticides, a 0.25% increase in the infant
mortality rate is documented. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention) says, “The infant mortality rate is an important marker of the
overall health of a society.” Although
infant mortality in the U.S. has been decreasing, 43 countries have infant
death rates lower than the United States.
But, not only does decreasing bat
populations lead to more pesticide use, leading to more infant deaths, but
pesticide use also leads to decreasing bat populations. An extensive
article by William Quarles, PhD, published in the IPM Practitioner in
2013, lays out much of the research that has been done on bats, pesticides, and
WNS. Dr. Quarles finds that the immune system of bats in the U.S. is unable
to prevent infection with WNS. He reviews studies showing that pesticides
including DDT, organophosphates, and carbamates result in death or
reproductive toxicity in bats. More recently, Pierre Mineau, PhD, and Carolyn
Callaghan, PhD, find, “[T]here is evidence to support the claim that bats are
being negatively affected by neonicotinoid insecticides in several different
ways, indirectly through reduction in insect abundance and directly through
impairment.” J.M. Oliviera et
al. review research on pesticide impacts on bats, finding, “Pesticides toxicity leads to immunosuppression
and makes the individual more susceptible to infections by pathogenic
organisms.”
The cycle of pesticide use causing
decreasing bat populations causing more pesticide use is an engine leading to
ongoing and increasing infant deaths. We can break the cycle of
increasing pesticide dependency with organic practices that are in sync with
nature and intended to protect and enhance biodiversity.
Multiple
crises impacting biodiversity, human health, and climate change threaten
ecological balance. Bats are one of many species providing important
ecosystem services, such as mosquito management and pollination, who are
underappreciated until their services are no longer available.
|