Latest news with #ConnecticutAgricultureExperimentStation
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why CT is doing free soil testing for PFAS chemicals on farms
Connecticut is now accepting soil samples from farmers who want to test for highly toxic chemicals on their property, according to officials. The Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station said it is accepting soil samples from Connecticut farms for a new program providing free analysis of polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, a class of highly toxic chemicals. PFAS, which have been found on farms, in firefighter gear, and in drinking water across the nation, can cause harmful health effects at extremely low concentrations and have earned the nickname 'forever chemicals' due to their lack of degradation over time, officials said Does your CT drinking water have harmful forever chemicals? In this state it depends where you live. PFAS have been in use since the 1940s in many industrial and consumer products resulted in widespread environmental contamination, officials said. Farms are particularly concerned due to high PFAS levels in municipal biosolids, which have been know to be applied as fertilizer, until a law banning PFAS in fertilizer last year. Connecticut adopted a phase out and ban plan for PFAs in 2024. It impactes 'substances in various consumer and safety products manufactured or sold' in the state, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. Further, starting Oct. 1, 2024, PFAS-containing biosolids or wastewater sludge (such as fertilizer) were prohibited from being used or sold in Connecticut, according to CBIA. 'Collecting data on PFAS concentrations at CT farms is an important step towards understanding the scope of PFAS contamination issues in CT' said Sara Nason, a research scientist at CAES. 'Data quality has been a big priority for our PFAS measurements' Nason said in a statement. The new program, which is voluntary, provides sampling kits to ensure contamination-free soil collection, and provides data on 14 PFAS directly to the farmers who submit samples. The CAES program uses a certified EPA method for 'soil analysis and an internationally recognized lab quality certification,' officials said. 'Our hope is that PFAS data will help farmers protect their safety and that of their customers' said Jasmine Jones, the PFAS technician at CAES, in a statement. 'PFAS found in farm soils may impact crops and livestock, and may pose a risk to drinking water wells on and near farms. There are no enforceable limits for PFAS on farms at the state or federal level, though high levels can be harmful to human and animal health.' More information on the program can be found through CAES website at Anyone seeking to get a testing kit must email to schedule a sampling kit pick up and sample-drop off time. Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Cicadas are expected to reappear in the Northeast this spring, but will they be in CT?
They look like space aliens, they make a loud buzzing sound and the last time you might have seen one Barack Obama was President of the United States. Cicadas, one of the more unusual insect species in North America, are expected to emerge this spring after nearly 17 years underground, according to researchers. Brood XIV, the latest group of buzzing perennial cicadas, is the latest to appear in New England in over a decade. The last time this brood appeared was in 2008. The sizable insects have stocky bodies and short antennae. Cicadas have large red eyes and transparent wings that feature noticeable veins, according to University of Connecticut. The species is notable for having both annual cicadas, which emerge and mate every year, and periodical cicadas which emerge after 13 or 17 years. The insects come out of the ground when soil temperatures reach 64 degrees, which typically happens during the second half of May. While annual cicadas emerge worldwide each year, periodical cicadas can only be found in the eastern part of the United States, according to the Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station. 'There's multiple broods of cicadas we track, but Connecticut is not expected to see cicadas emerge this year,' said Katherine Dugas, entomologist at the insect information office at AES. Cicadas are likely to make an appearance in Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, and in nine southern counties in Indiana, according to Cicada Safari, a website that gathers data on the insects. But while states in the Northeast will see cicadas, Connecticut is not mentioned on the list. 'It's funny that Massachusetts and Rhode Island will see them, but not here in Connecticut,' Dugas said. 'That could just be that populations are not present here historically or more likely they have gone extinct because they were extirpated. Because cicadas go underground for over a decade, that requires their host tree to be around for that long too. So any kind of development of older forests that may have these populations, if those trees are removed, that also removes the cicada population.' Connecticut's periodical cicada brood is Brood II, which won't emerge until 2030, according to Dugas. Brood II emerges every 17 years and last emerged in 2013. She said that the best place to see cicadas in 2030 will be in the middle of the state. Some tracts of land around power lines in Hamden are known to be where the brood is underground, she said. The insects emerge from the ground to mate and the females lay eggs in tree branches, she said. Around 6 to 10 weeks later, the eggs hatch and the babies drop to the ground. The juveniles then go beneath the ground and feed on grass roots and start the process all over again. The adults only live a couple weeks once they emerge, according to Dugas. The cicadas are able to correctly time their emergence based on linking with the roots of a mature tree and monitoring its growth cycles. This kind of relationship with their host tree leads to remarkable accuracy for emerging every 13 or 17 years, Dugas said. While the insects often emerge in swarms and can look menacing, they are harmless as they can't bite or sting, according to Dugas. Instead, their mouth parts are made for primarily sucking on plant sap. Cicadas are known to produce a loud, buzzing sound that they makes from a unique structure on their abdomen called a tymbal. Each brood typically contains multiple species, and different periodical cicada species have different calling songs they use in the mating process. Because individual cicadas can synchronize their sounds, they are known to produce choruses of 90 or more decibels, when hundreds are synchronized all together. 'Often times people don't see cicadas, they actually hear them first,' Dugas said. 'You'll commonly hear people say they can hear them in their yards when they emerge. They can be very loud and sometimes people will report them as a nuisance because of the noise. But they are ultimately harmless and will not really permanently damage a tree either, usually just some minor twig damage occurs. ' Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@
