{"id":44146,"date":"2014-07-07T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=44146"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:33:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:33:43","slug":"save-the-bees-ban-neonic-pesticides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/07\/save-the-bees-ban-neonic-pesticides\/","title":{"rendered":"Save the Bees, Ban Neonic Pesticides"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bees may be small, but they play a big role in human health and survival. Some experts say one of every three bites of food we eat depends on them. The insects pollinate everything from apples and zucchini to blueberries and almonds. If bees and other pollinators are at risk, entire terrestrial ecosystems are at risk, and so are we.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"What<\/a>

What will it take to get governments and industry to put people\u2014and pollinators\u2014before profits? Photo credit: Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Well, pollinators are at risk. And we know one of the main causes of their alarming death rates<\/a>. A new report<\/a> concludes that neonicotinoid\u00a0pesticides, or neonics, \u201cpose a serious risk of harm to honey bees and other pollinators.\u201d They also harm butterflies, earthworms and birds, and because they\u2019re now found in soils, sediment, groundwater and waterways, they alter \u201cbiodiversity, ecosystem functioning and the ecosystem services provided by a wide range of affected species and environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report, produced by the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, is the work of 50 independent scientists from around the world who spent four years analyzing more than 800 peer-reviewed scientific studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFar from protecting food production, the use of neonics is threatening the very infrastructure which enables it, imperilling the pollinators, habitat engineers and natural pest controllers at the heart of a functioning ecosystem,\u201d says lead author Jean-Marc Bonmatin of the National Centre for Research in France. Other research shows they may not even increase agricultural yields<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neonics are a family of chemicals<\/a> with names like\u00a0thiacloprid<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0imidacloprid<\/em>. They disrupt the central nervous systems of insects and are undeniably great at killing pests like aphids and grubs. Unlike traditional pesticides, neonics are \u201csystemic pesticides\u201d that are most often applied to seeds and roots so the chemical becomes incorporated into the plants\u2019 leaves, pollen, nectar, fruit and flowers.<\/p>\n

According to the Task Force, \u201cNeonics impact all species that chew a plant, sip its sap, drink its nectar, eat its pollen or fruit\u201d and can remain toxic for weeks or months \u2014 even years. The impacts cascade through ecosystems,\u00a0weakening their stability. As nerve poisons, they can kill targeted and non-targeted species and can cause \u201cimpaired sense of smell or memory; reduced fecundity; altered feeding behaviour and\u00a0reduced food intake including reduced foraging in bees; altered tunneling behaviour in earthworms; difficulty in flight and increased susceptibility to\u00a0disease.\u201d There\u2019s also evidence they can harm human health<\/a>, especially in infants.<\/p>\n

Neonics make up about 40 percent of the world insecticide market, with global sales of US$2.63 billion in\u00a02011\u2014and growing. That may explain why, despite increasing evidence that they\u2019re harmful, there\u2019s been such strong resistance to phasing them out or banning them. After experts concluded in 2013 that neonics pose an unacceptable risk to bees, the European Union imposed a temporary ban<\/a> on the use of three neonics in applications that are particularly hazardous to bees\u2014despite fierce opposition from the agrochemical industry and several governments. At the same time, Canada re-approved clothianidin, one of the chemicals banned in Europe.<\/p>\n

In the face of conclusive findings from hundreds of studies, industry reaction has been astounding. \u201cThere is very little credible evidence that these things are causing untoward damage because we would have seen them over 20 years of use,\u201d said Julian Little<\/a>, spokesperson for neonicotinoid manufacturer Bayer.<\/p>\n

Canadian agricultural pest control trade association CropLife Canada also rejected the science<\/a>, blaming bee deaths on varroa mites, another serious threat to honeybees. And even though Canada\u2019s Pest Management Regulatory Agency confirmed neonics used on corn seed contributed to bee die-offs in Ontario and Quebec, federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose has so far rejected a ban, saying her department\u2019s research is \u201cinconclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

What will it take<\/a> to get governments and industry to put people\u2014and pollinators\u2014before profits? Around the world, concerned individuals and organizations are calling on decision-makers<\/a> to get serious about this threat. At writing, more than 27,000 have signed a David Suzuki Foundation action alert<\/a> asking federal and provincial governments to ban the use and sale of neonics.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the government\u2019s duty to protect us from potentially harmful chemicals. With neonics, the science is clear: they\u2019re unsafe. Researchers say \u201cthere is clear evidence of harm sufficient to trigger regulatory action.\u201d They\u2019re calling them \u201cthe new DDT\u201d. It\u2019s time to ban these harmful pesticides.<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation<\/a>. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 27 honorary degrees from universities around the world. His written work includes more than 52 books, 19 of them for children.\u00a0Dr. Suzuki lives with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, and family in Vancouver, B.C.<\/em><\/p>\n

Written with Contributions from David Suzuki Foundation<\/a> Senior Editor Ian Hanington.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bees may be small, but they play a big role in human health and survival. The insects pollinate everything from apples and zucchini to blueberries and almonds. If bees and other pollinators are at risk, entire terrestrial ecosystems are at risk, and so are we.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}