低剂量杀虫剂加速鱼类衰老和死亡

Harms of chlorpyrifos emerge in polluted lakes and laboratory aquarium tanks Chronic exposure to pesticides and other pollutants can devastate wildlife populations—sometimes in dramatically obvious ways. By thinning birds’ eggshells, for example, DDT caused brooding bald eagles to crush their unhatched offspring. But more often, the exact cause of harm remains a mystery. Now, a study on p. 275 shows that a widely used insecticide, chlorpyrifos, speeds up aging in a common lake fish by shortening the protective caps on its chromosomes, and leads to its premature death. Chlorpyrifos, which helps control pests on many kinds of crops, is banned in the European Union and several U.S. …