Limiting the use of neonicotinoids, for example, could force the citrus industry to use other pesticides that are „not necessarily what the State of California wants” and „could require multiple sprays, which could pose a greater risk to bees,” said Casey Creamer, president and CEO of California Citrus Mutual. a professional association of citrus growers. Matt Shardlow, CEO of Buglife, said: „Neonicotinoids approved under the current pesticide approval process have destroyed wild bee populations and heavily polluted rivers. It is shameful that no action has been taken to ensure that pesticides that destroy bees and wildlife are properly assessed as safe for pollinators before they are approved or authorised. The government had the opportunity to do that in environmental law and did not do it. EFSA`s review confirmed that bees are exposed to dangerous levels of pesticides in pollen and nectar in fields treated with these neonicotinoids and surrounding areas. The dust drift that sometimes occurs when planting neonicotinoid-treated seeds is also dangerous for bees. Using one of the three pesticides outdoors caused at least one type of dangerous threat to bees, the agency concluded. Insecticides also decimate zooplankton and therefore the fish that feed on them. Birds stop eating and delay migration. In an assessment of three of the chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that they are likely to damage between 67% and 79% of federally endangered or threatened species and between 56% and 83% of their critical habitats.
The Trump administration`s decision opens the door to increased pesticide use on 150 million acres of important pollinator and bird habitat, without taking into account the damage to the country`s most endangered species, as required by law. A similar urgent application for England in 2018 was rejected after government advisers on pesticides said it would „have unacceptable effects on bees in flowering crops and flowering plants in field edges”. Flowering plants that would attract pollinators could not be grown in pesticide-treated fields for 32 months after application. U.S. Court Finds EPA Wrong to Allow Dow Pesticides That Are Harmful to Bees As their use has increased, studies have also shown that they threaten birds, bees and aquatic life. Potential risks to human health are still under investigation. „We need to restore the natural world and gradually wean ourselves off chemicals in agriculture,” he said. „It`s time for the government to listen to its own experts who have said they can`t support the use of this pesticide because it`s simply too dangerous.” The Wildlife Trusts also said predictions of yellowing of the virus had been wrong in the past. Neonicotinoids are the most popular insecticides in the world — but not in California, according to the state Pesticide Administration.
It took another year – and reduced the amount of pesticides by two-thirds – to find that although more bees survived, the survivors still stopped foraging and their reproduction dropped significantly. Fierce battle over world`s most popular insecticides EU set to vote on pesticide ban after thorough scientific scrutiny The use of glyphosate in genetically modified crops has contributed significantly to the 80% decline of the monarch butterfly over the past two decades, as the pesticide kills euphorbia, the monarch`s only food. While environmentalists applaud pesticide regulators for the proposed restrictions, they say they are too limited to address the risks posed by neonicotinoids. Farmers use the seeds to grow crops such as corn, soybeans and sunflowers, which cover nearly 180 million acres of U.S. farmland each year, according to the groups` complaint. That area is more than one and a half times that of California, they say. „Today`s decision by member states to support the Commission`s proposal to impose new restrictions on neonicotinoids is disappointing but not unexpected,” Syngenta, a pesticide manufacturer based in Basel, Switzerland, said in a statement. „The evidence clearly shows that neonicotinoids pose minimal threat to bee health compared to food shortages, disease and cold,” he continued. „We stand up for our products and our science.” In response to a lawsuit filed by beekeepers and other lawyers, courts ruled in 2015 that the EPA relied on „flawed and limited data” to approve sulfoxaflor registration, citing „precarious bee populations.” Today`s announcement follows the Trump administration`s decision last week to stop tracking honey bee colonies. Sandra Bell, campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: „Letting a pesticide harmful to bees back into our fields is completely at odds with the so-called green ambitions of ministers, not to mention the direct recommendation of their own scientists. The decision comes just two months after the government enshrined in law a goal to halt species loss by 2030.
The Trump administration`s approval reverses a 2014 decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Obama administration to ban genetically modified crops and neonicotinoid pesticides from nature reserves. But many scientists welcomed the decision. „The EU`s extension of the ban on all three neonicotinoids to all outdoor uses is great news,” Christopher Connolly, a neurobiologist at the University of Dundee in the UK and an expert on pesticide toxicity in bees, said in a statement released by the UK`s Science Media Centre.