‘Stark warning’: pesticide harm to wildlife rising globally, study finds

Aquatic plants and land-based vertebrates were the only two groups for which the danger fell. Photograph: Arterra Picture Library/Alamy

Ecological harm from pesticides is growing globally, a study has found, with bugs, fish, pollinators and land-based plants among six species groups hit hardest.

Insects suffered the greatest increase in harm from synthetic farm chemicals between 2013 and 2019, the study shows, with “applied” toxicity rising by 42.9%, followed by soil organisms, which faced an increase of 30.8%.