Did You Know That Pesticides Harm the Bee Population?

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The European Union, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, is set to ban Bayer's neonicotinoid insecticide known as thiacloprid. These pesticides are associated with harming the honey bee population in the region.

In a Reuters news report, farmers will not be allowed to use the insecticide, sold under brands Calypso and Biscaya, after April 30, 2020, when its current approval expires.

Most EU countries agreed on the proposal of the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, not to extend the approval.

The Commission based its assessment on findings of the European Food Safety Agency published earlier this year. The study highlighted concerns about the active substance of thiacloprid being toxic for humans and present in too high a concentration in groundwater, an EFSA spokesman told Reuters in an email.

The EU has outlawed the use of three so-called neonicotinoids everywhere except greenhouses. France has already prohibited all four insecticides and one other, including in greenhouses.

The neonicotinoid, according to the journal Science Connect, is a systemic insecticide that controls pollen beetles and is the most widely used class of pesticides worldwide. However, concerns about their impact on bees have been seen by various research efforts, including so-called "real world" trial outcomes published last year.

EU, in 2013, banned three other neonicotinoids, namely imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam, for treating flowering crops such as oilseed rape, due to the harmful effects it poses to the bees.

The ban was extended in 2018, which included the Deter (clothianidin)—typically used for crops such as winter cereals and sugar beet. The winter cereal growers then have been unable to use neonicotinoid-containing seed dressings.

Bayer, which serves as the manufacturer of Biscaya, told the Farmers Weekly that the organization respects the decision of the member states of the EU regarding the non-renewal of thiacloprid license. However, they still believe that the product is safe to use if proper risk mitigation measures would be applied.

The company added that thiacloprid-based products were an essential tool for farmers across the EU, especially for minor crops.

A Victory for Bees

Environmentalists welcomed the decision after the European Union decided to ban the pesticides blamed for the dramatic decline in global bee populations. Some five million people worldwide had signed petitions calling for an extension of pesticide ban last year, according to a news report by BBC.

Antonia Staats, from Avaaz, told BBC that banning the toxic pesticides is a "beacon of hope for bees."

"Finally, our governments are listening to their citizens, the scientific evidence and farmers who know that bees can't live with these chemicals and we can't live without bees," she said.

Dr. Lynn Dicks, a research associate at the University of Cambridge, told the Independent that EU was right to err on the side of caution. "This is a victory for the precautionary principle, which is supposed to underlie environmental regulation," she said.

Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likewise lauded EU's decision to prohibit such insecticides. He said in his official Twitter account that the decision was a "good move."

Great move! European Union governments today widened the EU ban on #pesticides linked to harming #bees after deciding not to renew their approval for #Bayer’s insecticide known as thiacloprid. https://t.co/qT2hmQvYmv — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 22, 2019