Study Links Higher Pesticide Use to Increased Infant Mortality

Research published in the journal Science and reported in The New York Times showed that when bat populations declined from disease, farmers increased their pesticide use to address increased insect pressure on crops. In turn, this led to higher infant mortality, scientists found. Specifically, pesticide use in U.S. counties affected by white-nose disease in bats rose by 31% and infant mortality rose by 8%, even when scientists controlled for other possible factors that could have affected that increase. Independent reviews of the work praise the study’s methodology as “groundbreaking.”