In the early 1990s Bayer scientists launched onto the world the chemical weapon from hell; a powerful neurotoxin that, as Dutch toxicologist Dr Henk Tennekes demonstrated (and others have subsequently confirmed), causes a virtually irreversible blockage of postsynaptic nicotinergic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system of all invertebrates from pollinators down to soil and aquatic organisms. The pesticides industry stands accused of failure to investigate the hazards of systemic neonicotinoids fully and of failure to establish standard tests and protocols. The protection agencies stand accused of failing to protect human health and the environment.
The attached summary proves that the pesticides industry and all of the environmental protection agencies were aware of the following, which up until now, they had consistently denied.
a) That the systemic neonicotinoid pesticides are harmful to bees.
b) That the tests and protocols that had allowed registration of the systemic pesticides were not adapted to assess potential hazard and risk from this type of pesticide.
c) Despite knowing all this, the Protection Agencies have allowed the pesticides industry to keep neonicotinoids on the market.
In addition, we have found that when clothianidin was conditionally registered in 2003, the US EPA knew it was highly toxic to honey bees on an acute contact basis and it had the potential for toxic chronic exposure to honey bees, as well as other non-target pollinators, through the translocation of clothianidin in pollen and nectar. They also knew it was persistent in soil and had the potential to leach into ground water, as well as surface water. There was also evidence of effects on the rat immune system and that juvenile rats appeared to be more susceptible to these effects.
Authors:
Dr Rosemary Mason, MB ChB FRCA, Former Consultant Anaesthetist and Palle Uhd Jepsen, Former Senior Adviser to the Danish Forest and Nature Agency.
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