December 2022

that can achieve such results has to be wonderful, right? Not quite.

For most not swayed by the magic of the mistletoe myth, mistletoe is considered a semi-parasitic plant that, through its shallow roots that cling to branches, damages and kills trees and bushes. Tree and bush damage is obviously a negative for anyone trying to cultivate erosion control or even shade for a warm location. Which makes festive little mistletoe a bad guy in the environmental world. It even has a bad guy’s name: “mistel” and “tan” from the Anglo-Saxon translates to “dung twig.” Nothing says holiday romance quite like dung!

At the same time that it’s wreaking havoc on trees, mistletoe’s 1,300 species provide food and a space for nesting birds and small mammals. So intertwined is mistletoe with its animal residents that it has evolved to scatter its seeds through a sticky substance dropped onto branches by bird feces. Its benefits to the animal world do not end with small creatures; mistletoe is currently being investigated for use as a possible medicine.

Surprisingly for a species considered a parasite, mistletoe has found balance within stable ecosystems and is not often considered naturally invasive. In fact, it is not abundantly found in woodlands and more mature ecosystems. It is only in agricultural-dominated and disturbed landscapes that mistletoe goes nuts. 

Often, there can be a fine line between controlling invasive or parasitic species while preserving beneficial species. At Waterborne, we help our clients with the registration of pesticides used to remove invasive species or pests in the environment; however, during the holiday season, we can’t help but think fondly of this overly dramatized and empowered parasite. At this time of year, we turn away from the negatives and embrace mistletoe’s magic. 

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Highlights from SETAC North America in Pittsburgh, PA!

We noticed a great in-person turnout for one of our main conferences of the year – SETAC North America. This year, the conference was held in Pittsburgh (with an online-hybrid option) and focused on the theme of “Bridging Innovation and Sustainability.”

We had both a technical and exhibitor presence at the conference, with our first exhibitor booth featured since before COVID. Waterborne had several posters and platform presentations. Raghu Vamshi teamed up with Ryan Heisler from the American Cleaning Institute as instructors for a special topic training course on Down-the-Drain Disposal: Environmental Exposure and Risk Assessment for Formulated Consumer Products. 

Chiara Accolla and Amelie Schmoke were both thrilled to be back to in-person conferences and found that the engagement with both existing and new colleagues was exponentially more valuable than the virtual conferences could provide – even a brief chat or “hello” between sessions felt like a breath of fresh air. The scientific focus on climate change and multiple stressor impacts including chemical stressors was a key conference highlight for both Chiara and Amelie. This is certainly an area we intend to focus on in 2023.

We were also proud to have Data Analyst, Brenna Kent, featured at the conference through multiple presentations. Brenna reported that she was excited about the continued focus on PFAS regulation and monitoring, which will help to bolster our on-going modelling efforts.



Thank you to all who met with us or stopped by our booth at SETAC NA. We’re eager to keep up our in-person conference engagement next year and build upon the fantastic research areas that were featured in Pittsburgh. Check out our website for more information on the Waterborne-featured presentations from the conference!

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