[Pollinator] Neonicotinoids

[Ladadams at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: muczynski.sharon at gmail.com
To: beemonitoring at yahoogroups.com
Sent:  1/20/2011 1:12:15 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: [beemonitoring]  Neonicotinoids


 



EPA  Allows Continued Sale and Use of Bee Killing Pesticide After Agency 
Report  Shows it Causes Hive Collapse
Submitted  by _Annie White_ (http://healthfreedoms.org/author/annie/)  on 
January  8, 2011 – 10:51 pm_One  Comment_ 
(http://healthfreedoms.org/2011/01/08/epa-allows-continued-sale-and-use-of-bee-killing-pesticide-after-agency-re
port-shows-it-causes-hive-collapse/#respond) 
 

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 (http://healthfreedoms.org/files/2011/01/800px-apis_mellifera_flying.jpg) 
A study by the EPA on the  pesticide clothianidin which has been used widely 
in the U.S. though it is  banned in France, Itlay and Germany for its toxic 
effects shows what those  countries have known for years. The chemical that 
is produced by Bayer and  used mainly to pre-treat corn seeds is toxic to 
bees which are attracted to  corn. The pesticide scooped up $262 million in 
sales in 2009 by farmers, who  also use the substance on canola, soy, sugar 
beets, sunflowers, and wheat.  What is worse then this is the EPA knew that 
clothianidin could be toxic when  it came out in 2003, but gave Bayer the go 
ahead to use the product. 
Bayer  was permitted to sell the product and seed processors could freely 
use it, on  the condition that Bayer complete a life cycle study of 
clothianidin on corn  by December 2004. Bayer was granted an extension until May 2005 
(and  permission to use canola instead of corn in its tests), but didn’t 
complete  the study until August 2007. The EPA continued to allow the sale of  
clothianidin even though Bayer was not holding up their end of the deal.  
Once the Bayer study finally did came out, it was flawed and now the  EPA’s 
own studies done on the product have come forth on wiki-leaks exposing  
information that originally was ignored. Here is an exert from their  report: 
“This  compound is toxic to honey bees. The persistance of residues and the 
 expression clothianidin in nectar and pollen suggest the possibility of  
chronic toxic risk to honey bee larvae and the eventual stability of the  
hive.”
Now  the EPA has the truth and obviously knows the threat yet somehow this 
product  will be available for sale again in the spring! Ready to poison and 
degrade  the bee pollination for another season. Why is the EPA allowing 
this to  happen? David Hackenberg, the beekeeper who first discovered Colony  
Collapse Disorder (CCD) doesn’t think that the EPA will take action unless  
it’s sued by a major environmental organization. This is an agency that is  
supposed to be protecting our health and environment, why does it only feel  
spurred to action when citizens organizations move to protest? Hackenberg  
tells Fast Company that an EPA official recently told him that  clothiandin 
is still on the market in part because of fears that Bayer would  sue the 
agency if it is removed.  Much more to be afraid of from overly  powerful 
corporations who rule with money then to take real action to protect  the food 
supply and the (duh) Environment. 
Without  honeybees our entire food supply is in trouble yet the EPA has 
decided to  continue to stand by and watch the poison that is killing them be 
dumped on  fields across the nation. They let Bayer slide on research 
deadlines and then  approved the companies shoddy report. It seems that a German 
based company  would not have much ground to defy decisions made by a U.S. 
federal agency  that is presumably protecting it’s citizens.The  EPA should 
perhaps consider a name change to CPPA, Corporate Profit Protection  Agency. 
~Health  Freedoms 

Beekeepers  across the U.S. are reporting record low honey crops as their 
bees fail  to make it through the winter. One-third of American agriculture, 
which relies  on bee pollination, is at stake. And the problem may be at 
least partially  attributable to clothianidin, a Bayer-branded pesticide used 
on corn and other  crops. 
But  as we revealed last week, the EPA knew that clothianidin could be 
toxic  when the product came on the market in 2003. So why is it still on the  
market? 
The  bee-toxic pesticide problem can be traced back to 1994, when the first 
 neonicotinoid pesticide (Imidacloprid) was released. Neonicotinoids like  
imidacloprid and clothianidin disrupt the central nervous system of pest  
insects, and are supposed to be relatively non-toxic to other animals. But  
there’s a problem: The neonicotinoids coat plant seeds, releasing insecticides 
 permanently into the plant. The toxins are then released in pollen and  
nectar–where they may cause bees to become disoriented and die. 
After  imidacloprid was released in France (under the name Gaucho) the 
number of bees  in the country dropped rapidly, from 75 kg per hive down to 30 
kg per hive  between 1995 and 2001. France conducted an official study on the 
pesticide in  1998, but found no solid evidence that imidacloprid played a 
part in bee  deaths. Nevertheless, Imidacloprid was banned for use on 
sunflowers and,  later, sweet corn. 
Enter  clothianidin, a next-generation neonicotinoid released by Bayer in 
2003. “In  terms of the neonicotonoid family, clothianidin is one of the most 
toxic  members,” explains Dr. James Frazier, a professor of entomology at 
Penn  State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. 
The  EPA first brought up the link between clothianidin and bees before the 
 pesticide’s release in February 2003. The agency originally planned to  
withhold registration of the pesticide because of concerns about toxicity in  
bees, going so far as to suggest that the product come with a warning label  
(_PDF_ (http://www.grist.org/i/assets/Memo_1.pdf) ): “This  compound is 
toxic to honey bees. The persistance of residues and the  expression 
clothianidin in nectar and pollen suggest the possibility of  chronic toxic risk to 
honey bee larvae and the eventual stability of the  hive.” 
But  in April 2003, the EPA decided to give Bayer conditional registration. 
Bayer  could sell the product and seed processors could freely use it, with 
the  proviso that Bayer complete a life cycle study of clothianidin on corn 
by  December 2004. Bayer was granted an extension until May 2005 (and 
permission  to use canola instead of corn in its tests), but didn’t complete the 
study  until August 2007. The EPA continued to allow the sale of 
clothianidin, and  once the Bayer study finally came out, it was flawed. 
In  a statement to the Pesticide Action Network, beekeeper Jeff Anderson  
explains: 
“The  Bayer study is fatally flawed. It was an open field study with 
control and  test plots of about 2 acres each. Bees typically forage at least 2 
miles out  from the hive, so it is likely they didn’t ingest much of the 
treated crops.  And corn, not canola, is the major pollen-producing crop that 
bees rely on  for winter nutrition.

“This  is a critical point because we see hive losses mainly after 
over-wintering,  so there is something going on in these winter cycles. It’s  as if 
they designed the study to avoid seeing clothianidin’s effects on hive  
health.” [Emphasis ours]
The  U.S. bee population didn’t start dying off until 2005, says David 
Hackenberg,  the beekeeper who first discovered Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). “
We  started seeing problems where bees were disappearing in the fall. We 
blamed it  on mites, viruses and a lot of other stuff because we didn’t know 
what to  blame it on.” 
But  soon Hackenberg made the connection: bee die-off seemed to follow corn 
crop  plantings so much that “you can follow the trail of this stuff to 
where bees  are collapsing,” says Hackenberg. 
Frazier  first started paying attention to the problem in 2007. “Ever since 
we started  this work, the sheer magnitude of the use of neonicotonoids in 
the environment  has always made them suspect for us,” he explains. 
Frazier  and Hackenberg weren’t alone in their concern. Germany suspended 
the use of  neonicotinoids in 2008 after the misapplication of clothiandin by 
beekeepers  in the Baden-Württemberg area caused the pesticide to get into 
the air.  Two-third of the beekeepers’ bees in the region died as a result 
(tests on  dead bees showed that 99% had clothiandin build-up). 
Italy  also suspended the use of neonicotinoids in 2008. The country  has 
evidence that the ban is saving bees. In 2009, Italy saw zero cases  of bee 
mortality in apiaries surrounding neonicotinoid-free corn crops. Bee  
mortality had been an issue around corn crops in the country since 1999. 
The  EPA’s response to these suspensions: “Several European countries have 
 suspended the use of certain pesticides in response to incidents involving 
 acute poisoning of honey bees. To EPA’s knowledge, none of the incidents 
that  led to suspensions have been associated withColony Collapse Disorder.” 
And  then came last week’s news that the EPA recently conducted another 
study  on clothiandin (_PDF_ 
(http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Memo_Nov2010_Clothianidin.pdf) ) in response to Bayer’s request to use the pesticide 
on  cotton and mustard (the chemical can currently be used on corn, canola, 
soy,  sugar beets, sunflowers, and wheat). 
The  new study, unearthed by Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald, invalidates 
Bayer’s  previous study, claiming that “after another review of this field 
study in  light of additional information, deficiencies were identified that 
render the  study supplemental. It does not satisfy the guideline 850.3040, 
and another  field study is needed to evaluate the effects of clothianidin 
on bees through  contaminated pollen and nectar.” The study also warns that 
clothiandin is  highly toxic to bees on both a contact and oral basis. 
And  yet, the EPA is continuing to allow the sale of clothiandin, even 
though the  study that the agency based its decision on proved to be invalid. “It
’s a  matter of perspective,” says Frazier. “If the core study to judge 
registration  is no longer considered a valid core study, do you allow 
continued use of  something without good scientific data behind it? That’s the 
choice that’s  been left to be made by the EPA.” 
Hackenberg  doesn’t think that the EPA will take action unless it’s sued 
by a major  environmental organization (note: in 2008, the NRDC sued the EPA 
to release  Bayer’s studies on neonicotinoid safety). Indeed, Hackenberg 
tells Fast  Company that an EPA official recently told him that clothiandin is  
still on the market in part because of fears that Bayer would sue the 
agency  if it is removed. 
“I  was at the EPA yesterday,” Hackenberg says. “They keep telling us that 
bee  scientists have to prove to the EPA that there’s a problem. The 
problem is  that the EPA is supposed to protect the environment, it’s their 
responsibility  to make sure that the chemical companies are doing their job.” 
No  one can say for sure that neonicotinoids alone are causing bees to die  
off–many more studies have to be done. But the EPA would do well to err on 
the  side of caution for the beekeepers who are rapidly losing their bees. 
Tom  Theobald, for example, saw his smallest honey crop in 35 years of 
beekeeping,  and Hackenberg claims that he has talked to beekeepers across the 
country who  have lost up to 90% of their output this year. 
Is  it really worth waiting to find out what happens if the EPA doesn’t 
take  neonicotinoids off the market? There isn’t time to waste. Clothiandin has 
a  half-life of 19 years in heavy soils favored by farmers. 
The  EPA has not responded to our requests for comment. 
By: Ariel  Schwartz 
Sources: 
_http://www.fastcompany.com/1709815/why-has-the-epa-allowed-a-bee-killing-pe
sticide-to-stay-on-the-market_ 
(http://www.fastcompany.com/1709815/why-has-the-epa-allowed-a-bee-killing-pesticide-to-stay-on-the-market) 

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