{"id":14440,"date":"2014-11-07T00:01:11","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T04:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=14440"},"modified":"2014-11-07T11:30:11","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T15:30:11","slug":"groups-tell-canadian-regulators-to-reject-bee-killing-pesticide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2014\/11\/groups-tell-canadian-regulators-to-reject-bee-killing-pesticide\/","title":{"rendered":"Groups Tell Canadian Regulators to Reject Bee-Killing Pesticide"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/i>, November 7, 2014) Environmental organizations are calling on the Canadian government to \u00a0reject the approval of yet another bee-killing pesticide called flupyradifurone. According to Health Canada\u2019s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA)<\/a> \u2014responsible for regulating pesticides in Canada\u2014 the new pesticide exhibits systemic behavior and \u201cmay pose a risk to bees, non-target beneficial arthropods, and freshwater and saltwater invertebrates when used for foliar application.\u201d Additionally, the pesticide \u201cmay pose a risk to birds and small wild mammals when used for soybean seed treatment.\u201d \u00a0Environmentalists say approval of \u00a0flupyradifurone would be irresponsible of PMRA because it would allow yet another chemical with a high potential hazard to bee health into the environment.<\/p>\n

\"Gina<\/a>Environmental groups, including Sierra Club Canada Foundation, David Suzuki Foundation, Pollination Canada, National Farmers Union, Friends of the Earth, and Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, have been vocal in expressing their concern about flupyradifurone:<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth Canada has admitted the use of neonicotinoid pesticides threatens bees and other pollinators and has promised a review, but meanwhile wants to open the door to its chemical cousin. Is the government taking the threat of systemic pesticides seriously?\u201d said Lisa Gue, a researcher and analyst at David Suzuki Foundation.<\/p>\n

Karen Eatwell, President of National Farmers Union \u2014 Ontario, stated, \u201cScientists have called for a global phase-out of neonics. The last thing we need is another systemic pesticide contaminating the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Produced by Bayer CropScience, flupyradifurone is an insecticide that is part of a class of chemicals known as butenolides. Like neonicotinoid insecticides, which have been increasingly linked<\/a> to bee declines around the world, flupyradifurone is a systemic chemical that is taken up by the plant and moves through its tissues into pollen, nectar, and guttation droplets and interferes with the nerve function of exposed insects. Sulfoxaflor<\/a>, another controversial chemical, shares the same mode of action as flupyradifurone and neonicotinoids. Environmental and farm groups, including Beyond Pesticides, came together last year to file a legal brief<\/a> in support of the nation\u2019s major beekeeping associations\u2019 lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requesting that a federal court vacate EPA\u2019s decision to register sulfoxaflor, which is also highly toxic to bees.<\/p>\n

With a growing body of scientific literature pointing to neonicotinoid use as the prime factor in bee declines, critics are no longer mincing words over the continued use of these and other bee-killing pesticides. Recently, Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller stated<\/a>, \u201cAll the science is not done, but everything that I have before me \u201d\u00a6 suggests to me that this is the biggest threat to the structure and ecological integrity of the ecosystem that I have ever encountered in my life, bigger than DDT,\u201d on the release of his report titled, \u00a0The Annual Report of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario<\/a>. Additionally, in September 2013, PMRA\u2019s interim report<\/a> concluded that neonicotinoid contaminated dust had likely caused severe bee mortality in Ontario and Quebec in 2012 and 2013.<\/p>\n

Neonicotinoids<\/a> \u00a0are chemically similar to nicotine and are pesticides that are toxic to a broad range of insect pests. As a result of neonicotinoids\u2019 systemic nature, \u00a0pre-treatment practices<\/a>, and other factors these dangerous pesticides \u00a0have been linked to the global disappearance of honey bees and other non-target organisms<\/a>, such as earthworms, birds, and aquatic invertebrates.<\/p>\n

The plight of bees and other pollinators is an important one for all to be concerned. One third of the foods we eat are dependent on pollination services, which contribute $20-30 billion to the agricultural economy. The reliance on toxic, systemic inputs that dominate our agricultural systems and how we manage pests is being found to have more environmental costs than benefits.<\/p>\n

Take Action:<\/b> Beyond Pesticides\u2019 BEE Protective campaign has all the educational tools you need to stand up for pollinators. Some specific ways you can help are:<\/p>\n