Wild birds are "highly susceptible" to contamination by triazole fungicides in vineyards, new research has found.
Frederic Angelier/dpa
Wine, or at least a glass or two too many, has sometimes been thought of as a guilty pleasure.
Chief guilt-tripper these days is surely Ireland's government, which in May 2023 became the first European state to mandate health warning labels on bottles of booze, sparking the ire of the alcohol industry across the continent, Ireland's own included.
For those who like to kick back after work, glass of Merlot in hand, there could now be yet another reason to worry about the downside of wine.
That's because it has been shown that wild birds are "highly susceptible" to contamination by triazole fungicides in vineyards, according to fieldwork by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), which warned that the sprays, which used to help keep vines fungus-free, have been found "to disrupt hormones and metabolism, which can impact bird reproduction and survival."
The research, published by the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB), suggests that the birds are more vulnerable to the fungicides in vineyards than in other agricultural systems, such as wheat fields, where the sprays are also widely used.
"We found that birds can be highly contaminated by triazoles in vineyards," says Frédéric Angelier, senior researcher at the CNRS.
Vineyards "cover a large proportion of lands in some European countries and, importantly, they are associated with a massive use of fungicides," of up to 7 times' that with other crops.
The research was published after the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in May published findings suggesting Europe's bird population had fallen by a quarter in four decades due to the use of fertilizer and pesticides.
Wine, or at least a glass or two too many, has sometimes been thought of as a guilty pleasure.
Chief guilt-tripper these days is surely Ireland's government, which in May 2023 became the first European state to mandate health warning labels on bottles of booze, sparking the ire of the alcohol industry across the continent, Ireland's own included.
For those who like to kick back after work, glass of Merlot in hand, there could now be yet another reason to worry about the downside of wine.
That's because it has been shown that wild birds are "highly susceptible" to contamination by triazole fungicides in vineyards, according to fieldwork by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), which warned that the sprays, which used to help keep vines fungus-free, have been found "to disrupt hormones and metabolism, which can impact bird reproduction and survival."
The research, published by the Society for Experimental Biology (SEB), suggests that the birds are more vulnerable to the fungicides in vineyards than in other agricultural systems, such as wheat fields, where the sprays are also widely used.
"We found that birds can be highly contaminated by triazoles in vineyards," says Frédéric Angelier, senior researcher at the CNRS.
Vineyards "cover a large proportion of lands in some European countries and, importantly, they are associated with a massive use of fungicides," of up to 7 times' that with other crops.
The research was published after the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in May published findings suggesting Europe's bird population had fallen by a quarter in four decades due to the use of fertilizer and pesticides.
2023/07/04
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
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