Posted on 12/16/2010 12:57:10 PM PST by frithguild
The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined--electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.
The document, which was leaked to a Colorado beekeeper, shows that the EPA has ignored warnings about the use of clothianidin, a pesticide produced by Bayer that mainly is used to pre-treat corn seeds. 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, according to Grist.
The leaked document (PDF) was put out in response to Bayer's request to approve use of the pesticide on cotton and mustard. The document invalidates a prior Bayer study that justified the registration of clothianidin on the basis of its safety to honeybees:
Clothianidin’s major risk concern is to nontarget insects (that is, honey bees). Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that is both persistent and systemic. Acute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis. Although EFED does not conduct RQ based risk assessments on non-target insects, information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects. The entire 101-page memo is damning (and worth a read). But the opinion of EPA scientists apparently isn't enough for the agency, which is allowing clothianidin to keep its registration.
Suspicions about clothianidin aren't new; the EPA's Environmental Fate and Effects Division (EFAD) first expressed concern when the pesticide was introduced, in 2003, about the "possibility of toxic exposure to nontarget pollinators [e.g., honeybees] through the translocation of clothianidin residues that result from seed treatment." Clothianidin was still allowed on the market while Bayer worked on a botched toxicity study [PDF], in which test and control fields were planted as close as 968 feet apart.
Clothianidin has already been banned by Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia for its toxic effects. So why won't the EPA follow? The answer probably has something to do with the American affinity for corn products. But without honey bees, our entire food supply is in trouble.
Of course not. That's why I said the EPA is out of control. And why I said their authority wasn't adequately defined. And why I said there should be a watchdog organization making sure the EPA doesn't abuse their power.
I just don't think we should throw the baby out with the wash. I think there is an important and necessary role for an EPA like organization. Saying abolish the EPA is like saying abolish all domestic police forces because we regularly find abusive cops.
Fix the EPA, curb their abuses, make them justify their actions, have a watchdog to look out for the rights of the little guy.
Sorry. Dislexia kicks in when I speed read:)
There is no causal evidence yet on this pesticide. GIven the history of panicked responses to pesticides like DDT, alar, etc, I’m skeptical of any ban proposal without some real evidence.
Part of the agricultural bill, how to kill bee’s
Bwahahahaha!
Excellently put and quite true.
>>It’s time to defund that ‘70s relic. All ‘70s relics, in fact.<<
The subject of this video is a good relic to reverse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSY1HbpzTjM
It is downright criminal. Literally.
This was quite probably to encourage growers to look at third world countries for farming operations. It has worked!
Specifically, high-fructose corn syrup, which is in damned near everything. I saw one of those liquid coffee creamer products recently, its bottle emblazoned with a "Sweetened with Splenda!" label. First in the list of ingredients: corn syrup.
No, they have a purpose. To slow down American industry so the third world countries can boost their economies so we can get on with this one world government that everyone is so anxious to have. And it’s working too. Have you noticed since the free trade agreements took our manufacturing out of America that our food seems to be coming from the third world countries? The new dues for the UN are going to increase to 1.5% of our GDP if they get their way.
So the solution then is to jack up enormous tariffs and watch as your industry collapses anyways.
Free trade isn’t the problem. Government spending is the problem.
sfl
I don’t have time to discuss it this evening but the FED was the boot source of the problem.
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