"... Poor pesticide spraying practices in the Nambucca Valley and Coffs Harbour regions...Chemical banned by European Union still used in Australia."

When you drive from Nambucca Valley to the Coffs Harbour regions you can see giant white plastic nets enclosing blueberries, raspberries and blackberries plantations. There are toxic chemicals on some berries, the water and the area.

"Banned chemical thiometon detected in berries sold at supermarkets."

"Blueberry farming has boomed in NSW, including in the Nambucca Valley, as minimal red tape is required to set up. Blueberry farms can be started without formal registration or oversight, making it hard for authorities to track pesticide use. Since January 2022, the EPA has prosecuted 21 pesticide-related incidents across a range of crops in local courts across NSW... The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) announced a review into the use of dimethoate on blueberries, raspberries and blackberries."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-07/pesticide-review-thiometon-dimethoate-blueberries-raspberries/105701674
#food #regulation #toxins #pesticide #water #BerryIndustry #EPA #APVMA #governance #fruits #blueberries #NSW #plantations #MidNorthCoast #nambucca #CoffsHarbour #pollution #sprayDrift #dimethoate #thiometon #neurotoxins

Don't tell anyone!

"Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show. Instead of taking action to protect babies and young children from toxic lead exposure, government officials have tied themselves in knots to protect a dangerous industry."

"The New South Wales environment watchdog sat on a report for four years linking elevated levels of lead in children’s blood to current mining, and promised mining companies they would not do any “finger-pointing”, new documents tabled in state parliament show.
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/05/environment-watchdog-buried-report-on-lead-in-childrens-blood-to-placate-mining-companies-emails-show

"Lead exposure
can have serious consequences for the health of children. Exposure to very high levels of lead can severely damage the brain and central nervous system causing coma, convulsions and even death. Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with permanent intellectual disability and behavioural disorders."
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health
#Pollution #children #lead #HeavyMetals #neurotoxins #health #harm #NSW #EPA regulation #BrokenHill #NSW #mining #extractivism #governance #DelayDeny

Fossil fuels, Marine heatwaves and Runoff: The bloom pulsates

"Algal blooms are complex, but the prevailing theory is that the 2022-23 floods washed nutrients down the Murray-Darling Basin system and out to sea. A marine heatwave and an “upwelling” of nutrients from the bottom of the ocean combined to create the perfect conditions for Karenia mikimotoi to flourish."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/25/were-trying-to-call-on-everybody-that-we-can-south-australia-scrambles-to-fight-its-pulsating-algal-bloom
#FoamAndBlooms #FossilFuels #ocean #RangeShift #AlgalBlooms #HABs #neurotoxins #FishKills #MarineLife #wildlife #ecosystems #pollution #floods #MDB

The #robberfly #Tolmerus #cingulatus is native to the Palearctic and prefers dry #habitats. #Adults #prey on other insects, killing their prey with #neurotoxins, predigest via #enzymes. Larvae are soil predators. R. Mitchell (2024) presents a #genome (280,000 megabases) for the #DarwinTreeofLife. See also my science blog article (2024).

©#StefanFWirth #Berlin 2025

Ref

R. Mitchell (2024)
https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.23416.1

S. F. Wirth on " biologe"" (2024)
https://wp.me/p2l6XU-1UV

Photos
© S.F. Wirth

Western Water Hemlock (Cicuta douglasii) is considered the most violently toxic plant in North America. Its carrot-scented roots contain cicutoxin, a powerful neurotoxin that can cause seizures and death with very small amounts.

#neurotoxins #californianativeplants #wildlife #nature #california

Antivenom neutralizes neurotoxins of 19 of world's deadliest snakes
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/05/250502133806.htm
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00402-7

* antibodies isolated f. hyperimmune individual self-exposed to wide variety of venoms
* result: potent, broadly cross-neutralizing antibodies against homologous snake toxins
* used to make broadly effective antivenom
* protective against black mamba, king cobra, tiger snakes in mouse trials
* path toward universal antiserum

#snakes #antivenom #neurotoxins

#India, #Jammu 'mystery #illness' toll rises to 17, inter-ministerial team takes stock https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/jammu-mystery-illness-toll-rises-to-17-inter-ministerial-team-takes-stock/articleshow/117378643.cms

A mysterious illness has claimed 17 lives in Badhaal village, J&K, since December 2024. Mohammad Aslam lost his sixth child, Yasmeena, making it six of his children who died. An inter-ministerial team is probing the cause of deaths, as #neurotoxins were found in samples.