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Pesticides

Pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc...) are toxic chemicals that generally undergo little to no testing on amphibians prior to their being approved for use. Unfortunately, the law of gravity has it that many of these pesticides end up in waterways, where amphibians live and breed. Amphibians have permeable skin that is highly absorbent, making them extremely susceptible to pollutants and pesticides.

An abundance of scientific literature has demonstrated the negative effects of an array of commonly used pesticides on amphibians: delayed metamorphosis, immunosuppresion, hermaphroditism, sex reversal, and outright mortality. There are over 18,000 registered pesticides in the USA.

Many pesticides are applied by spraying, and a portion of the chemicals inevitably get caught in the wind and lifted up to the clouds, where they can be carried for hundreds of kilometers from their source -- often getting deposited on mountaintops in once pristine national parks and preserves. Populations of the critically endangered mountain yellow-legged frog Rana muscosa that live downwind of highly agricultural areas in California's Central Valley have disappeared at a significantly higher rate than other populations, and the species is on the verge of extinction.

International Day of Pesticide Action: October 24, 2010

Please join us in Washington, D.C. on Sunday October 24th 2010 on the International Day of Pesticide Action, an event we conceived and will coordinate with nonprofit partners around the world. We are sure that with your participation, we can rally 100,000 people to march through the streets of DC from the steps of the Capitol to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding a federal ban on Atrazine, the 21st Century's DDT. More info on the International Day of Pesticide Action is to come! We'll see you in Washington, D.C. on October 24th!

Atrazine: The 21st Century's DDT

It turns male frogs into females and eighty million pounds of it are used in the USA each year. Need we say more? Learn all about this horrible pesticide here.

Roundup

Roundup (also sold as Touchdown Total) is lethal to gray treefrog and leopard frog tadpoles, and most likely a host of other as yet untested frog species. Roundup is one of the most commonly applied herbicides in the USA; it's produced by Monsanto, the same folks who gave us Agent Orange. Over half of the DNA found in frogs is also found in humans, so if these pesticides kill frogs, imagine what they do to us!

Chlorothalonil

Chlorothalonil is the most commonly used synthetic fungicide in the USA, commonly applied to peanuts, tomatoes and potatoes. It is also extremely common in Costa Rica and tropical nations, where it is used on bananas and other crops. At concentrations commonly found in areas where the fungicide is applied, Chlorothalonil causes 100% mortality to tadpoles of Cuban Treefrogs (Osteopilus septentrionalis), Squirrel Treefrogs (Hyla squirella) and Green Treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) within 24 hours of exposure.

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Pollution - by Nancy Cesar

A frog poem by 6th grader Austin Almanza

From the 1st Annual Frog Poetry Contest

These frogs they’re saying
“Stop using pesticides.
Look what it’s done to us.
We’re mutated because of that stuff!"

Learn about other threats to frogs

Habitat Destruction
Chytridiomycosis & other infectious diseases
Climate Change
Invasive Species
Over-Harvesting

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Pollution Pesticides