A new study has found alarmingly high levels of pesticides in the urine of pregnant Costa Rican women working in and living near the banana industry in Matina, Limón. The chemical ethylene thiourea (ETU) found in the fungicide mancozeb, which is sprayed over banana plantations here, can be detrimental to fetal brain development, according to the report released Monday in Environmental Health Perspectives. Read more.

As fungus kills bats, MN timber industry winces: Minneapolis Star and Tribune| 8-19-14
A cave fungus that’s killing millions of bats across the country is threatening to become a big problem for Minnesota’s timber industry.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide next spring whether to add the northern long-eared bat, which is being wiped out in places by the disease called white nose syndrome, to the endangered species list.

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