Epa & pesticide companies rig the game on neonics registration

[borderbeeman]

Kim Flottum has a very important paper on his 'Catch the Buzz' Ezine which is a 'must read' for anyone who is concerned about the link between neonics and CCD.

http://home.ezezine.com/1636/1636-20...8.archive.html

Original report of the SETAC workshop can be read here:
http://www.setac.org/sites/default/f..._20sep2011.pdf

In January 2010 the EPA got together with SETAC (The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry) at a major conference in Florida. The event was heavily sponsored by the big pesticide companies, who sent along their delegates in large numbers: The SETAC conference was heavily sponsored by the pesticides industry, so they were well represented; three from Bayer, two from Syngenta, two from BASF (one of whom had boasted on the net about BASF’s financial contribution), one from Monsanto and one from DuPont. In December 2010, the ‘buzz’ we received from the global bee keeping network had been that independent bee scientists who had published the most important peer-reviewed research on neonicotinoids, that had confirmed that they were toxic to honey bees, were all excluded. When they had applied to attend they were told that the conference was full! The delegates were carefully selected, and, until the last minute, the actual dates were kept secret.

So what was the event all about?

The EPA and Bayer know that they do not have a leg to stand on in respect of how they have licensed and registered all the neonics being used in America today - especially Clothianidin - which has been used on 92 million acres of the US corn crop - despite the fact that the EPA's own scientists judged that it should NOT be given a license back in 2003 - since it was proven to be "highly toxic to honeybees".

So the SETAC workshop admitted that the tests and risk assessments which had been used to license Imidacloprid, Clothianidin and Thiamethoxam were all based on tests designed decades earlier for the 'old' pesticides. SETAC and the EPA now admit that these tests are completely irrelvant - because the neonics are not sprayed ONTO the crop - they are used as seed coatings which spread the poison INSIDE the plant, to every part including pollen and nectar - for the entire life-span of the growing crop.

If the EPA were truly an independent, unbiased watchdog - it would arguably hold its hands up and say: "hey guys, we;ve been using the wrong tests for the last 15 years - and they are useless for assessing the risk posed to honeybees by these systemic insecticides". Arguably, they would then WITHDRAW the licenses for the neonics until proper tests had been agreed, piloted and applied.

Guess what . . .they didn't do that. Together with Bayer - Tom Moriarty, who wrote the final report - concluded that the existing tests were not applicable to neonics . . .but there's no need to withdraw the neonics from the market. They just need to do 'more research'.

Now a British doctor - and bee expert - Dr Rosemary Mason - has written a devastating analysis of the SETAC report - which confirms what many have long suspected:

1. The pesticide manufacturers are now in charge of the licensing process
2. They are the ONLY people doing any testing at all - it is their data which gets passed to the EPA
3. The EPA may have started out as the people's watchdog, but it is now toothless, blind and bark-less

Do please read the report at the link above. You will then understand why America has lost 4 million bee colonies in as many years.

[Acebird]

There is nothing independent about government bureaucracies. All of them are supported and controlled by the industries they regulate. Energy, defense, pharmaceuticals, environment etc. they are all run the same way.
The best way to find out what is going on in America is to follow foreign media. Even our own PBS network is tainted. Wikileaks proves how much our media is censored.

[Andrew Dewey]

I hope the systemic pesticides will ultimately be found to be safe for our bees and us; I fear they will not. How the chemical industry, agriculture and government respond will be very telling.

[fish_stix]

Where are you getting your numbers about hive losses over the last 4 years? We have less than 4 million hives to begin with and most beekeepers I know about are still chugging along. Sounds like both sides of the aisle are stacking the numbers to feather their nest.

[jim lyon]

Certainly there are issues with the approval process, I don't think any rational person could argue that. But that dosent mean that the product is necessarily bad. Lets not forget, though, that its an economic reality that crops with pest problems are going to be treated in some manner. We know that foliar spraying in some situations can be devastating to bees and also quite unhealthful to the person doing the application. What we do know about systemics is that they are safer to apply and that there is reason to suspect that a low level sublethal dose may harm bees. On the other hand the bee numbers as measured both by the NASS and the California Almond pollination season shows a significant uptick in bee health from previous years. We also know that after testing by many researchers that no clear smoking gun has ever been found to conclusively state that CCD problems are related to these systemic pesticides. That may not be the conclusion that fit the agendas of a lot of people but they are the facts as we know them today.
As a side note I knew three men very well who all died in their 50's from cancer, two of them spent years doing custom foliar spraying of all different types of chemicals a third who never smoked died of lung cancer after making his living working around a fertilizer plant. My point is that the health of bees isnt the only issue here, part of the larger issue is if systemics are a better overall alternative for more people in the farm community.

[Acebird]

There is no conclusive evidence that there is intelligent life on another planet so there must not be. Right?

[WLC]

I think it's safe to say that we all know that neonics kill native pollinators and Honeybees.

We also know that the EPA is 'broken'.

Don't forget the FDA.

The reason we have GMOs, without any labelling requirements, is that Monsanto 'caused' the laws that the FDA uses to regulate GMOs to be made.

So, as long as DNA is 'Generally Regarded As Safe', things won't change on the GMO front either.

The USDA has issues as well. We have USDA-ARS scientists working with companies like Monsanto on a regular basis. Those Remembee field trials are just one example.