New study queries pesticide safety levels

Pesticides could be damaging river biodiversity at levels that have been traditionally regarded as environmentally safe by authorities, suggests a new study.

Ecotoxciologist Dr Ben Kefford, of University of Technology, Sydney, and colleagues, report their findings online in Environmental Science & Technology.

"Pesticides are having an effect at 10 to 100 times lower concentrations than traditionally thought," says Kefford. He says when authorities try to protect our streams and rivers from pesticides they rely on thresholds, under which it is assumed pesticides have no effect.
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Black bream killed by algae in Swan River
More than 1,000 fish have been found dead in the Swan River, and scientists believe a fish-killing algae is responsible.

A total of 1,400 fish, mostly black bream, were found dead over the weekend between Bassendean and West Swan.
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Earlier this year, about 5,000 fish were found dead in the river and scientists were unable to determine what killed them.