How do the recommended pesticides affect non-target organisms such as birds, fish, and other insects?
Carbaryl (the active ingredient in Sevin) is slightly toxic to birds (LD50 > 5,000 mg/kg in mallard ducks and bobwhite quail) and fish (LC50 = 1,950 mg/L in rainbow trout and LC50 = 6,760 mg/L for bluegill sunfish). Sevin is highly toxic to honey bees. Permethrin (the active ingredient in Astro and Dragnet) is highly toxic to fish (LC50 = 0.5 mg/L to 315 mg/L) and aquatic arthropods (LC50 = 0.2 mg/L to 7.6 mg/L). Permethrin is slightly toxic to birds and oral LD50 values are greater than 3600 mg/kg. Longer dietary studies showed that concentrations of up to 500 ppm in the diet had no effect on bird reproduction.
