Evidence of Neonicotinoid Contamination in Aquatic Invertebrates: An analysis of the current state of the river Seyon in Switzerland

Neonicotinoids are widely used pesticides whose harmful effects on biodiversity have been long recognized. This work analyzes the incidence and prevalence of five neonicotinoids in four different taxa of aquatic invertebrates in three sites of the Seyon River, in Switzerland. All samples analyzed were contaminated with at least one neonicotinoid, and two neonicotinoids found in the samples had been banned from use nine months prior to sampling: these facts highlight the substances’ ubiquity and high persistence in natural environments. The concentrations indicated a chronic exposure to neonicotinoids, except for one value which was ten times bigger than the others. These alarming results encourage further studies on the subject, in which the experimental methods developed for this work could be exploited.

I chose this subject because neonicotinoid use was the heart of a substantial public debate in Switzerland, and i wanted to know more about the subject. I studied the aquatic environment because it is a natural habitat that is very important in Neuchâtel, but it is only scarcely studied.