Pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors increasingly contaminate the world’s freshwaters. New research provides direct evidence of their transfer from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems via the consumption of aquatic insects by terrestrial predators such as spiders, birds and bats. This exposure may have negative impacts on the physiology and population dynamics of predators, suggesting a need for improved risk-assessment guidelines and practices.
Science for Environment Policy
Previsǐc, A., Vilenica, M., Vuckovic, N., Petrovic, M. and Rozman, M. (2021) Aquatic Insects Transfer Pharmaceuticals and Endocrine Disruptors from Aquatic to Terrestrial
Ecosystems. Environmental Science & Technology, 55: 3736−3746. https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c07609?ref=pdf