Edible oil droplets trap bugs without the harm to people and wildlife that synthetic pesticides can cause

The insect glue, produced from edible oils, was inspired by plants such as sundews that use the strategy to capture their prey. A key advantage of physical pesticides over toxic pesticides is that pests are highly unlikely to evolve resistance, as this would require them to develop much larger and stronger bodies, while bigger beneficial insects, like bees, are not trapped by the drops.

The drops were tested on the western flower thrip, which are known to attack more than 500 species of vegetable, fruit and ornamental crops. More than 60% of the thrips were captured within the two days of the test, and the drops remained sticky for weeks.

Work on the sticky pesticide is continuing, but Dr Thomas Kodger at Wageningen University & Research, in the Netherlands, who is part of the self defence project doing the work, said: “We hope it will have not nearly as disastrous side-effects on the local environment or on accidental poisonings of humans. And the alternatives are much worse, which are potential starvation due to crop loss or the overuse of chemical pesticides, which are a known hazard.”

Link to the study

  • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
    1·
    6 months ago

    You are correct, but having spent 7 years of my life learning general chemistry, biochemistry, and organic chemistry… I will fight with my last breath that chemicals exist.

    To play devils advocate, lets say we “agree” that “no chemicals” means no harmful chemicals… now we have given corporations the weasel defense to say anything has “no chemicals” because they will define away any measure of harm.

    Pointing out the incorrectness of the article doesn’t mean it has no merit, but now the critical reader must be extra cautious because the author has demonstrated very poor domain knowledge, and their conclusions are suspect.

      • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        “Toxin” is somewhat subjective.

        Raisins aren’t a toxin… for us. But they are for cats and dogs.

        And not all harmful chemicals are toxic, per se.

        Sodium hydroxide does not produce systemic toxicity, but is very corrosive and can cause severe burns in all tissues that it comes in contact with.

      • spartanatreyu@programming.devEnglish
        1·
        6 months ago

        Because: “The dose makes the poison”.

        In other words, any chemical—even water and oxygen—can be toxic if too much is ingested or absorbed into the body. The toxicity of a specific substance depends on a variety of factors, including how much of the substance a person is exposed to, how they are exposed, and for how long.