Neonicotinoids are the new DDT killing the natural world

Neonicotinoids are the new DDT killing the natural world

www.theguardian.com

It's the new DDT: a class of poisons licensed for widespread use before they had been properly tested, which are now ripping the natural world apart. And it's another demonstration of the old truth that those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it.

It is only now, when neonicotinoids are already the world's most widely deployed insecticides, that we are beginning to understand how extensive their impacts are. Just as the manufacturers did for DDT, the corporations which make th

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Death. While everyone is playing World of Warcraft and watching Game of Thrones... We have separated ourselves from the Natural world. Now the payment is being made. Humanity has allowed the death merchants at Bayer, Monsatan, and Syngenta to kill everything. A single seed soaked in this toxin kills everything for the next ten years.. flys, bugs, birds that eat the bugs, more bugs that touch the run off water to the field that had the seed, foxes that eat the birds, and you. Wake up. Death is around you. Your children are growing up in it...and surrounded by it.. Is this what we want for our children's future?
Don't buy their products, get involved, contact your politician, and most importantly make it your intent to change this. Now.

www.theguardian.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is another battle, we as Citizens are up against. Just like GMO's, NSA spying, Corporate Fascism, Crooked Cops, Check Points, Vaccines/Autism, and so on...

So it's up to us to inform the public to get rid of all this crap!!!!

Once we have Mandatory GMO labeling, the supply for GMO will crash and burn and more farmers will start opting for organic products!!!!

Day by Day, one person at a time!!!!

reply to post by R_Clark


Its true, Neonics are wiping out the ecosystems.

Most of us know about the bees facing extinction; yet the birds and aquatic life
are getting wiped out too, though it is not widely reported on.

It is not sensational to call it like it is: this the business of death.
And here are the Purveyors of Death

Originally posted by R_Clark
A single seed soaked in this toxin kills everything for the next ten years.. flys, bugs, birds that eat the bugs, more bugs that touch the run off water to the field that had the seed, foxes that eat the birds, and you.

Did you not read the article you linked to or did you intentionally make all that up?

I still don't understand how seeds treated with a pesticide have a chance of making the plant a pesticide for those organisms that use its products (pollen, eat leaves, fruit etc.)

Is this because the tainted seed contaminates the soil and the plant absorbs this at an early age, making the plant produce/exude toxins in the soil?

Originally posted by Philippines

Is this because the tainted seed contaminates the soil and the plant absorbs this at an early age, making the plant produce/exude toxins in the soil?

While it does contaminate the soil, the coating alone is enough to kill bees,
and birds. And, the crop acutally has these pesticides inserted into the genes,
that is how the crop fends off bettles and worms.

Even a tiny grain of wheat
or canola treated with the oldest neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, can poison a bird. As
little as 1/10th of a corn seed per day during egg-laying season is all that is needed to
affect reproduction with any of the neonicotinoids registered to date.
Birds depend heavily on the aquatic systems...

The amount of insecticide adhering to the average corn (maize) seed can result in acute
intoxications in birds with all three registered products – imidacloprid, clothianidin and
thiamethoxam. With imidacloprid, a single seed may prove lethal for an average-sized bird (e.g.
blue jay-sized) likely to be picking up whole corn seed from seeded fields. A few seeds only are
required in the case of clothianidin or thiamethoxam

www.abcbirds.org...

reply to post by Superhans


This is not the only article on the subject, nor is it a scientific paper. There are scientific papers already and whistle blowers.. This is fact.

reply to post by dominicus


and you forgot Fukashima... possibly the number one issue (after the rest?)...

Originally posted by burntheships

Originally posted by Philippines

Is this because the tainted seed contaminates the soil and the plant absorbs this at an early age, making the plant produce/exude toxins in the soil?

While it does contaminate the soil, the coating alone is enough to kill bees,
and birds. And, the crop acutally has these pesticides inserted into the genes,
that is how the crop fends off bettles and worms.

Even a tiny grain of wheat
or canola treated with the oldest neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, can poison a bird. As
little as 1/10th of a corn seed per day during egg-laying season is all that is needed to
affect reproduction with any of the neonicotinoids registered to date.
Birds depend heavily on the aquatic systems...

The amount of insecticide adhering to the average corn (maize) seed can result in acute
intoxications in birds with all three registered products – imidacloprid, clothianidin and
thiamethoxam. With imidacloprid, a single seed may prove lethal for an average-sized bird (e.g.
blue jay-sized) likely to be picking up whole corn seed from seeded fields. A few seeds only are
required in the case of clothianidin or thiamethoxam

www.abcbirds.org...

edit on 8-8-2013 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

edit on 8-8-2013 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

I still don't understand how a coating of the toxin applied to a seed of a plant results in the flowers of the plant being toxic to the bees. Flowering and seed are completely separate stages in plant life, so I still don't understand how a seed coated in this pesticide results in flowers toxic for bees and birds (though maybe if the birds ingest the poison-treated seeds directly it makes sense, but not for bees).

Originally posted by Philippines
so I still don't understand how a seed coated in this pesticide results in flowers toxic for bees and birds (though maybe if the birds ingest the poison-treated seeds directly it makes sense, but not for bees).

I will mostly answer with quotes, as that way people will be left to attack the science, if they can

As I said earlier, the whole concept of inserting pesticide into the gene of the plants,
the plant produces the pesticides, therefore the plant pollen becomes the toxin.
These are sytemic pesticides.

Harvard Scientist

Unlike traditional pest-killing chemicals, which are usually sprayed on crops, lawns, and trees, systemic pesticides render a plant toxic to bugs from the inside out. Seeds are treated with pesticide before they’re sowed (or sometimes the soil is pre-treated). When the plant grows, the poison essentially grows with it, spreading to all parts of the tissue and killing any snacking corn borers, rootworms, aphids, or stink bugs.

The big systemic pesticides these days are called neonicotinoids, which are derived from nicotine and target insects’ nervous systems. They have exploded in popularity over the past decade, thanks to a perception that they are both safer and more effective than the pesticides they replaced. The vast majority of corn planted in the United States today is pre-treated with neonicotinoids, the seeds colored like candy. So are other major crops such as soybeans and canola.

The wind, not bees, pollinates corn, but bees can collect corn pollen. And neonicotinoid-laced pollen blows onto nearby flowers and crops, exposing honeybees to the poison. Neonicotinoids are also used on plants that bees do pollinate, including cucumbers and watermelons. Unlike older pesticides, neonicotinoids can linger in the soil for months or even years.

www.boston.com...

Originally posted by burntheships

Originally posted by Philippines
so I still don't understand how a seed coated in this pesticide results in flowers toxic for bees and birds (though maybe if the birds ingest the poison-treated seeds directly it makes sense, but not for bees).

I will mostly answer with quotes, as that way people will be left to attack the science, if they can

As I said earlier, the whole concept of inserting pesticide into the gene of the plants,
the plant produces the pesticides, therefore the plant pollen becomes the toxin.
These are sytemic pesticides.

Harvard Scientist

Unlike traditional pest-killing chemicals, which are usually sprayed on crops, lawns, and trees, systemic pesticides render a plant toxic to bugs from the inside out. Seeds are treated with pesticide before they’re sowed (or sometimes the soil is pre-treated). When the plant grows, the poison essentially grows with it, spreading to all parts of the tissue and killing any snacking corn borers, rootworms, aphids, or stink bugs.

The big systemic pesticides these days are called neonicotinoids, which are derived from nicotine and target insects’ nervous systems. They have exploded in popularity over the past decade, thanks to a perception that they are both safer and more effective than the pesticides they replaced. The vast majority of corn planted in the United States today is pre-treated with neonicotinoids, the seeds colored like candy. So are other major crops such as soybeans and canola.

The wind, not bees, pollinates corn, but bees can collect corn pollen. And neonicotinoid-laced pollen blows onto nearby flowers and crops, exposing honeybees to the poison. Neonicotinoids are also used on plants that bees do pollinate, including cucumbers and watermelons. Unlike older pesticides, neonicotinoids can linger in the soil for months or even years.

www.boston.com...

edit on 8-8-2013 by burntheships because: (no reason given)

I think you said it a different way before, or some way I didn't understand, but this makes much more sense.. in a way. Here I know nicotine is used as a pesticide through infusing tobacco leaves and water (nicotine), but this whole neonicotinoid business sounds like a villainous scheme from a comic book.

How does the plant essentially absorb the poison as it grows from the seed treatment? Surfactants? The mere presence? And how does the seed/plant absorb the traits of the poison?

Originally posted by Philippines

How does the plant essentially absorb the poison as it grows from the seed treatment? Surfactants? The mere presence? And how does the seed/plant absorb the traits of the poison?

The name of the corn is "Atribute" aka "sweet corn". As to the exact methods of the
genetic engineering the pesticide into the genes, they are propietary.

However, there is no mystery as to how they kill.

A two-year peer reviewed study published in 2012 showed the presence of two neonicotinoid insecticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, in bees found dead in and around hives situated near agricultural fields. Other bees at the hives exhibited tremors, uncoordinated movement and convulsions, all signs of insecticide poisoning. The insecticides were also consistently found at low levels in soil — up to two years after treated seed was planted — on nearby dandelion flowers and in corn pollen gathered by the bees. Insecticide-treated seeds are covered with a sticky substance to control its release into the environment, however they are then coated with talc to facilitate machine planting. This talc is released into the environment in large amounts. The study found that the exhausted talc showed extremely high levels of the insecticides — up to about 700,000 times the lethal contact dose for a bee. According to the research,


"Whatever was on the seed was being exhausted into the environment. This material is so concentrated that even small amounts landing on flowering plants around a field can kill foragers or be transported to the hive in contaminated pollen. This might be why we found these insecticides in pollen that the bees had collected and brought back to their hives."

neonics

reply to post by burntheships


This is still so confusing for me. Perhaps you really are what you eat, just like plants are what they eat? So if you eat plants that eat these chemicals.. etc.

Taking it further, then maybe horizontal gene transfer is a real potential threat, if you are what you ingest

Originally posted by Philippines
reply to post by burntheships

 

This is still so confusing for me. Perhaps you really are what you eat, just like plants are what they eat? So if you eat plants that eat these chemicals.. etc.

Taking it further, then maybe horizontal gene transfer is a real potential threat, if you are what you ingest

Many scientiests are saying exactly that.
The horizonal gene transfer is a danger, and has occured.

(GM ) Transgenic - Genes can escape into the environment by horizontal gene transfer
with potentially serious consequences

Most GM contamination incidents occur through cross-pollination, contamination of seed stocks, or failure to segregate GM from non-GM crops after harvest. But for years, scientists have warned that GM genes could also escape from GM crops into other organisms through a mechanism called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT is the movement of genetic material between unrelated species through a mechanism other than reproduction. Reproduction, in contrast, is known as vertical gene transfer because the genes are passed down through the generations from parent to offspring.

GM proponents and government regulators often claim that, based on available experimental data, HGT is rare. The EU-supported website GMO Compass states, “So far, horizontal gene transfer can only be demonstrated under optimised laboratory conditions.”164 Alternatively, they argue that if it does happen, it does not matter, as GM DNA is no more dangerous than non-GM DNA.

But there are several mechanisms through which HGT can occur, some of which are more likely than others. HGT via some of these mechanisms occurs easily and frequently in nature. The consequences of HGT from GM crops are potentially serious, yet have not been adequately taken into account by regulators.
earthopensource.org... -no-consequence#sthash.V2jdZF7a.dpuf
" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">horizonal gene transfer

Genetic Engineering Dangers

reply to post by R_Clark


I have read about the damage neonics and other pesticides are destroying everything, I only hope that they will be banned like DDT, I know they have some European countries but I think North America needs work