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The leaked document, which was written by the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, explains clearly that "clothianidin's major risk concern is to non-target insects (honey bees)" and that "cute toxicity studies to honey bees show that clothianidin is highly toxic on both a contact and an oral basis."
The letter was in response to a request from Bayer to have clothianidin approval expanded for use on cotton and mustard in addition to its other approved uses.
Several European nations have outlawed the use of clothianidin, including Germany, Francy, Italy and Slovenia.
Bees are still sick, and EPA is still stuck.
EPA knows enough to act, and has the authority and responsibility to suspend Bayer’s bee-toxic pesticide, clothianidin—yet for more than a year the agency has failed to do so.
Congress has the authority to exercise oversight over federal agencies like the EPA. We will continue to pressure EPA to take action on clothianidin
Scientific evidence continues to mount strengthening the case that neonicotinoid pesticides are indeed key drivers behind colony collapse disorder (CCD). Three new studies out in the past two weeks, including one today, add to the growing body of evidence that implicate pesticides as a critical catalyst behind drastic declines in bee population.
Two pesticides of concern, fipronil and thiacloprid (a neonicotinoid), operate in combination with a common pathogen to dramatically increase bee death. And they do so at very low, sub-lethal levels.
1 Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America, 2 Department of Analytical Chemistry, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
Farmers were apparently encouraged to switch to a similar pesticide, Imidacloprid, which as now been found to be even more deadly
ScienceDaily (Apr. 5, 2012) — The likely culprit in sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies since 2006 is imidacloprid, one of the most widely used pesticides, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)