Insecticides

During foraging activities honeybees are frequently exposed to different xenobiotics, most of them are agrochemical pesticides and beehive chemicals. The understanding of synergy mechanisms between xenobiotics is very important for the control of defined mixtures use and also for the prediction of potential toxicity of newly developed substances in agriculture and apiculture. This review is focused on the effects, mechanisms and molecular targets of xenobiotics in honeybees and possible complex mechanisms of their synergisms. The majority of synergistic effects observed in honeybees were ascribed to the inhibition of detoxifying midgut enzymes P450 involved in xenobiotic metabolism. The main inhibitors of P450 enzymes are specific compounds used to prolong the effects of pesticides as well as some fungicides. Some insecticides can also interact with these enzymes and influence the xenobiotics.

Researchers with Friends of the Earth US and the Pesticide Research Institute say that more than half of the nursery plants studied contained residues of “neonicotinoid” pesticides, a substance increasingly thought to be contributing to mass die-offs of global honey-bee populations. “At the levels observed in our report, the high percentage of contaminated plants and concentrations suggest this problem is widespread,” Lisa Archer, a co-author of the new report and director of Friends of the Earth US’s food and technology program, told Inter Press Service (IPS). “Unfortunately, too many home gardeners have likely become a source of exposure to pesticides that have been shown to harm, weaken and kill bees. It’s pretty shocking that consumers who may be purchasing these plants specifically to help bees could, in fact, be poisoning them.”

Angling and fishery organisations have welcomed an announcement from the UK's Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon that plans are being drawn up to remove products containing the dangerous insecticide Chlorpyrifos from domestic sale. Mr Benyon was responding to strong representations from the Angling Trust, the national representative body for anglers, and fishery owners along the Kennet Valley in Wiltshire and Berkshire following last month's devastating pollution of all invertebrate life along a 15 kms stretch of this famous chalk stream by a tiny amount of chlorpyrifos which entered the river via the combined sewerage system. In a recent letter to Mr Benyon Angling Trust campaign chief Martin Salter wrote: “Experience from other countries as well as the catalogue of environmental disasters caused by chlorpyrifos, of which the upper Kennet is but the latest, must surely tell us that the current controls are simply not fit for purpose." In fact the Angling Trust wants to know why a lethal chemical like chlorpyrifos is allowed to be used anywhere near a river or watercourse. Apparently the 15 kms wipeout of invertebrates between Marlborough and Hungerford may have been caused by as little as a couple of spoonfuls and was almost certainly the result of an irresponsible domestic disposal. "We hope you will agree that the the sooner we follow the lead of Singapore and America and ban the domestic use of chlorpyrifos the better off our rivers will be.”

Tibor Szabo, the OBA’s 1st vice president, told OurWindsor.ca that despite the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s announcement Friday focusing on a tightening of rules in respect to the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, the plan as currently written is nowhere near sufficient. Some of the protective measures for corn and soybeans – which the PMRA hopes to have in place for the 2014 season - are set to include requiring the use of safer dust-reducing seed flow lubricants; requiring adherence to safer seed planting practices; requiring new pesticide and seed package labels with enhanced warnings; and, requiring updated value information be provided to support the continued need for neonicotinoid treatment on up to 100% of the corn seed and 50% of the soybean seed. “I’m concerned with the continuing emphasis focusing only on seeding dust as the cause of the pesticide bee kills. Has anyone ever actually traced all of the Neonic’s found on dead bees, stored pollen and water sources to the dust at planting time? Is there any real evidence to support this assumption?” said Szabo, adding that another relevant cause is water and soil contamination, which can be linked to pollen and nectar due to mobility dynamics. “Since 80 to 90% of active ingredients do not enter the target crop and that NNI’s are persistent and water soluble, it seems to me that this source is more likely at the core of a number of bee losses. And yet this isn’t addressed or queried anywhere in the release of intent notice,” he said.

In this Communiqué, ETC Group identifies the major corporate players that control industrial farm inputs. Together with our companion poster, Who will feed us? The industrial food chain or the peasant food web?, ETC Group aims to de-construct the myths surrounding the effectiveness of the industrial food system. ETC Group has been monitoring the power and global reach of agro-industrial corporations for several decades – including the increasingly consolidated control of agricultural inputs for the industrial food chain: proprietary seeds and livestock genetics, chemical pesticides and fertilizers and animal pharmaceuticals. Collectively, these inputs are the chemical and biological engines that drive industrial agriculture. This update documents the continuing concentration (surprise, surprise), but it also brings us to three conclusions important to both peasant producers and policy makers. 1. Cartels are commonplace, 2. The “invisible hold” of the market is growing, and 3. Climate research shows that we don’t know (that) we don’t know our food system.

Although bee advocates have focused on farmers and their use of insecticides, homeowner use of chemicals also can affect bee populations. Many homeowners apply neonicotinoids, a widely used class of insecticides, when lawn weeds, such as dandelions and white clovers, are blooming; This practice can have a negative effect on native pollinator populations. Jonathan Larson, a University of Kentucky doctoral student, recently published the results of his homeowner research in the journal PLOS ONE. Declines in honeybee populations have captured media headlines. But other pollinators, such as bumblebees, also are on the decline due to diseases, pesticides and habitat loss. “With honeybee populations struggling, we need to rely on native bees, such as bumblebees, to pick up the slack on plant pollination,” Dan Potter, UK entomologist and Larson’s adviser, said in the release. “Many native bees are much more efficient at pollinating certain types of crops, like tomatoes, urban flowering plants and vegetables grown in home gardens.”

In a 52-page report released Monday, the Government Accountability Office raises concerns about EPA’s method of granting conditional approval for new uses of pesticides in advance of receiving full reports from the manufacturers to support the safety of their use. The findings in the report come amid growing concern over the effects of pesticides on humans and the environment, which have been linked to neurological disorders and cancer, among other things.
EPA officials, in response to recommendations in GAO’s report, “EPA Should Take Steps To Improve Its Oversight Of Conditional Registrations,” have agreed to update their systems to allow for the easier tracking of conditional registrations and better monitor submission of the needed data. However, the agency in a July 18 letter to Alfredo Gomez, GAO’s acting director, also defends its conditional registration program. While EPA has “made mistakes in how it has identified the states of conditionally and unconditionally registered pesticides” and has limitations in tracking the submission of data, “all conditionally registered products meet applicable legal standards, and pesticides have not been allowed in the marketplace without adequate testing to ensure safety.