07
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 7, 2012) Yesterday, Beyond Pesticides joined with the Center for Food Safety and the Sierra Club, along with beekeepers from around the country, to file a 60-Day Notice letter with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing the intent to jointly sue the agency for Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations. The potential lawsuit highlights EPA’s continuing failure to ensure, through consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that its numerous product approvals for the neonicotinoid insecticides clothianidin and thiamethoxam are not likely to jeopardize any federally-listed threatened or endangered species. “EPA has failed to uphold the clear standards of the Endangered Species Act,” said Peter Jenkins, attorney at the Center for Food Safety. “By continuing to ignore the growing number of reports and studies demonstrating the risks of neonicotinoids to honey bees and a large number of already threatened and endangered species, the EPA is exposing these already compromised populations to potentially irreversible harm.” The Notice of Intent to Sue follows a legal petition previously filed by several environmental organizations and more than two dozen beekeepers requesting that EPA immediately suspend use of the chemical clothianidin that poses fatal harm to pollinators. While refusing to issue an […]
Posted in Announcements, Clothianidin, Litigation, Pesticide Regulation, Pollinators, Take Action, Thiamethoxam, Wildlife/Endangered Sp. | 4 Comments »
02
Jul
(Beyond Pesticides, July 2, 2012) The French Ministry of Agriculture has issued a ban on the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam due to concerns over the chemical’s impacts on pollinators, especially honey bees. The pesticide product containing thiamethoxam, Cruiser OSR, is manufactured by Swiss chemical giant Syngenta and has been used as a seed treatment on canola seed. The French Agriculture Minister, Stephane Le Foll, had announced in June that his agency was considering a ban on the pesticide and asked Syngenta to submit any new data the company had on the chemical. Apparently finding this data insufficient evidence that thiamethoxam was safe for pollinators, the agency withdrew the permit for Cruiser OSR last Friday. The ban is expected to take effect at the start of the next canola planting season in late summer. Thiamethoxam is a neonicotinoid insecticide used to coat seeds prior to planting. When the seed germinates, the plant that grows from it takes the chemical up through its vascular system and expresses it through pollen, nectar, and guttation droplets from which bees forage and drink. Thiamethoxam is very closely related to another neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin. When insects ingest thiamethoxam, their digestive system metabolizes it to clothianidin, killing the […]
Posted in Agriculture, International, Pollinators, Syngenta, Thiamethoxam | 3 Comments »
25
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 25, 2012) The Canadian governmental authority responsible for pesticide registration has expanded its re-evaluation of neonicotinoid pesticides to include two additional compounds linked to honey bee deaths and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) announced on June 12 that it has added clothianidin and thiamethoxam and their associated products to its ongoing re-evaluation of imidacloprid. The re-evaluation of these pesticides will focus on resolving issues related to environmental risk and specifically the potential effects of neonicotinoids on pollinators. The re-evaluation will consider all agricultural uses of neonicotinoid insecticides, including soil applications, seed treatment, as well as foliar and greenhouse uses. The Canadian announcement follows France’s decision earlier this month to initiate its own review for thiamethoxam that could result in the cancelation of allowances for using the pesticide. Neonicitinoids are highly toxic to a range of insects, including honey bees and other pollinators. They are taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar, and gutation droplets from which bees forage and drink. Neonicotinoids are particularly dangerous because, in addition to being acutely toxic in high doses, they also result in serious sublethal effects when insects are exposed to […]
Posted in Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, International, Pesticide Regulation, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | 1 Comment »
04
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 4, 2012) France’s Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll announced plans on Friday to cancel Swiss manufacturer Syngenta’s registration to treat canola seed with the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam, a chemical cousin of the bee-killing pesticide clothianidin, in a move to protect honey bees from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). When honey bees are exposed to thiamethoxam, it breaks down in their bodies to, clothianidin, which Beyond Pesticides is petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban due to a preponderance of adverse effects data and inadequate registration safety testing. Both pesticides have been shown in numerous scientific studies to play a key role in CCD. As France acts to protect its pollinators from pesticides, the U.S. continues to allow the uses of theses highly toxic chemicals to continue. Tell Congress and EPA that the U.S. should join France in taking a precautionary approach to our pollinator crisis. The chemical manufacturer Syngenta has two weeks to report its own evidence before the ban officially goes into effect. If enacted, France’s Agriculture Ministry stated that the ban will take effect before the start of canola sowing season in late summer. Minister Le Foll reinforced the fact that farmers do not need […]
Posted in Chemicals, Clothianidin, Pollinators, Syngenta, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
21
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 21, 2012) American farmers are growing increasingly more frustrated with the lack of commercially available seeds that have not been pretreated with pesticides. Farmers across the Midwest have called on federal officials this week to provide greater access to seeds without pesticide treatments. The request comes as scientists and beekeepers highlight the nearly pervasive use of neonicotinoids as seed treatments on corn as a critical factor in recent bee die-offs, including colony collapse disorder (CCD). Beekeepers from Minnesota to Ohio to Canada report large losses after their hives forage near treated cornfields. Scientists from Purdue University and a multi-year series of studies from Italy point to toxic dust, or neonicotinoid-contaminated powder from recently planted corn fields as key pesticide exposure pathways for bees. The request comes on the heels of a report aired by NBC Nightly News this week entitled “Bee Deaths Linked to Pesticides”, as well as recent reports of large bee kills in Ohio. “Farmers want to be good stewards and neighbors by purchasing seeds and growing corn that supports healthy honey bees and successful beekeepers,” said Doug Voss, a Minnesota corn farmer who also keeps beehives. We have a genuine concern with the majority […]
Posted in Agriculture, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
28
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 28, 2012) A study by researchers at the University of Padova in Italy and published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology has confirmed the findings of previous research showing that honey bees are exposed to toxic neonicotinoid insecticides during spring seed planting. Neonicotinoids are known to be highly toxic to honey bees and, yet, are used on millions of acres through North America every year. These findings lend even greater urgency to the need to take these chemicals off the market and ensure the continued survival of honey bees and the essential pollination services that they provide for our food system. Neonicotinoids, including clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam, are most commonly applied by coating crop seeds with the chemical. When these treated seeds are planted, the chemical becomes part of the plants vascular system and stays in the plant for the duration of its lifetime, expressing itself in the pollen. Previously, it had been thought that bees were only exposed to these chemicals through pollen and water droplets from treated plants, which would occur later in the season once the plants had grown and bloomed. However, the Italian study shows that bees are actually exposed to high […]
Posted in Agriculture, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
11
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 11, 2012) On January 10, beekeepers from across the country gathered at a national conference, with environmental organizations at their side, to draw attention to the growing plight facing their industry —the decline of honey bees, a problem that has far reaching implications for the U.S. economy. The disappearance of the bees alerts us to a fundamental and systemic flaw in our approach to the use of toxic chemicals -and highlights the question as to whether our risk assessment approach to regulation will destroy our food system, environment, and economy. “Bees and other pollinators are the underpinnings of a successful agricultural economy,” said Brett Adee, Co-Chair of the National Honey Bee Advisory Board and owner of Adee Honey Farms. “Without healthy, successful pollinators, billions of dollars are at stake.” Many family-owned beekeeping operations are migratory, with beekeepers traveling the country from state-to-state, during different months of the year to provide pollination services and harvest honey and wax. Bees in particular are responsible for pollinating many high-value crops, including pumpkins, cherries, cranberries, almonds, apples, watermelons, and blueberries. So any decline in bee populations, health and productivity can have especially large impacts on the agricultural economy (see factsheet). Honey […]
Posted in Agriculture, Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
10
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 10, 2012) A Purdue University study shows that honey bees’ exposure to the highly toxic neonicotinoid pesticide clothianidin, as well as thiamethoxam, is greater than previously thought. Beyond Pesticides, as a part of a coalition of beekeeping and environmental groups, challenged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a December 2010 letter for allowing the continued use of this bee-killing pesticide after EPA admitted in a leaked memo that its field study on bees is inadequate. The study, “Multiple Routes of Pesticide Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields,” was published January 3, 2012 in the online edition of PLoS ONE. Like other neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin is a systemic pesticide, which is taken up by a plant’s vascular system and expressed through pollen, nectar, and gutation droplets. It is most commonly applied by seed treatment. Most pesticides that are toxic to bees carry a warning that the product cannot be applied while foraging bees are present. As this study shows, systemic pesticides continue to expose and poison bees throughout foraging season. The study authors decided to take a closer look at clothianidin routes of exposure because of its prevalence in honey bee pollen and comb material, combined […]
Posted in Agriculture, Chemicals, Clothianidin, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
22
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 22, 2010) The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) last week announced plans to end its controversial practice of endorsing pesticides for financial benefit from leading chemical manufacturers. The endorsement of four products as “bee-friendly” caused outrage among many beekeepers because one of the companies, Bayer Crop Science, makes pesticides like imidacloprid, an insecticide widely implicated in the deaths of honeybees worldwide. The 135-year-old charity endorsed pesticides used to combat the varroa mite that is linked to the collapse of colonies as “bee-friendly.” In return, for the past 12 years the association has received ÂŁ17,500 ($27,949) a year from Bayer Crop Sciences and Syngenta. This relationship angered many members and some left the association. However, the BBKA denies that it has bowed to pressure from members who have been increasingly critical of its relationship with Bayer and other chemical companies. In a statement sent out this week to the secretaries of local beekeeping associations across the UK, the BBKA’s president, Martin Smith, said: “Following discussion with the companies involved, the BBKA trustees have decided that endorsement and related product-specific payments will cease as soon as practically possible.” He added: “The four products subject to BBKA endorsement are of declining […]
Posted in Bayer, Clothianidin, Fipronil, Imidacloprid, International, Pollinators, Syngenta, Thiamethoxam | No Comments »
30
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 30, 2008) A group of insect-killing sprays known as neonicotinoids that are widely used in UK farming have now been banned in four other European countries because they are thought to be killing bees. Italy has just joined Germany, Slovenia and France in banning the sprays. This week the Italian government issued an immediate suspension of these sprays after they accepted that they are killing bees. Yesterday, the Britain’s Soil Association (SA) wrote to Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for the Environment, urging him to ban the sprays in the UK with immediate effect. In the letter, SA Policy Director Peter Melchett wrote, “I fear it is typical of the current extraordinarily lax approach to pesticide regulation in the UK that we look like being one of the last of the major farming countries in the EU to wake up to the threat to our honeybees.” He also stated that the UK’s current pesticide regulation “is too dominated by scientists from one side of the debate about pesticide safety, fails to take adequate account of the public interest as against the interest of the chemical industry and some farmers, and fails adequately to apply the precautionary […]
Posted in Clothianidin, Fipronil, Imidacloprid, International, Pollinators, Thiamethoxam | 1 Comment »
