Insecticides

For decades, the plummeting populations of bees and other pollinators have provoked serious concern: the busy insects' work is essential to about a third of all the food we eat, including tomatoes, beans, apples and strawberries. The loss of flowery meadows, starving the bees, and the rise in parasites have long been blamed. But 2012 saw a third factor rise to prominence – neonicotinoid pesticides.

Die Generaldirektion für interne Politik des Europäischen Parlaments hat sich in die Diskussion über Neonikotinoide eingeschaltet und ein beachtliches Dokument publiziert (Beilage). 2013 wird ein entscheidendes Jahr für die Bienen - in Österreich, Europa und weltweit.

I’m not quite ready to declare any victories, but the EU Report, Existing Scientific Evidence of the Effects of Neonicotinoids on Bees (attached) sent to me by Dr. Henk Tennekes certainly represents a significant change in the perception of the problem. It will be interesting to see how, or if, the EPA factors this into their handling of the neonicotinoids. Their response to criticisms raised in the Earth Focus documentary was “If, at any time during the reevaluation, the science indicates that neonicotinoid pesticides used according to the label instructions are not meeting the protection standards of FIFRA the EPA will take the necessary regulatory action.” This is a long string of weasel words providing for multiple opportunities for rationalization and evasion, but even with that it will be difficult for the EPA to dismiss the questions raised here without being seen as even more of an embarassment than they already are.

De huidige bijensterfte mag deels in verband worden gebracht met het gebruik van landbouwgif met neonicotinoïde als werkzame stof. Recent onderzoek toont dit aan. De toelaatbaarheid van het gebruik moet daarom opnieuw worden beoordeeld. Een en ander blijkt uit een rapport van de EU-commissie milieu, volksgezondheid en voedselveiligheid. In ons land zijn ruim vijftig middelen op de markt met dit type gif erin. De Wageningse onderzoeker Tjeerd Blacquiere, adviseur van voormalig staatssecretaris Bleker, beweert al jaren dat het gif geen rol van betekenis speelt bij de massale bijensterfte van de laatste jaren. Opponent toxicoloog Henk Tennekes waarschuwt echter al even lang voor het 'desastreuze' effect op het zenuwgestel van bijen én andere insecten.

Pesticides used in agriculture are designed to protect crops against unwanted species, such as weeds, insects, and fungus. Many compounds target the nervous system of insect pests. Because of the similarity in brain biochemistry, such pesticides may also be neurotoxic to humans. Concerns have been raised that the developing brain may be particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of neurotoxic pesticides. Current requirements for safety testing do not include developmental neurotoxicity. We therefore undertook a systematic evaluation of published evidence on neurotoxicity of pesticides in current use, with specific emphasis on risks during early development.

According to a recent study by researchers at University of California, Los Angeles, people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury and lived in areas with exposure to pesticides may be three times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease. In UCLA's recent study, researchers compared a group of 357 people with Parkinson's to 754 people without the disease. All respondents lived in an agricultural area in central California. Using records of pesticide applications dating back to 1974, researchers tracked exposure to paraquats in the study. The research participants were also asked to report any head injuries suffered in their pasts that caused loss of consciousness longer than five minutes. The examination found that 42 of the 357 people with Parkinson's reported having had a traumatic brain injury compared to 50 of the 754 people without the disease. Moreover, those with Parkinson's were 36 percent more likely to report exposure to pesticides than those without the disease. Ultimately, the research suggests that while brain injuries and pesticides are individually associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's, the combination is associated with a greater threat of developing the disease.

A new report from the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Internal Policies has come out highlighting the scientific research showing negative impacts of neonicotinoid pesticides on bees throughout Europe (attached). Emma Hockridge, Soil Association Head of Policy Said: “The new report states that ‘Neonicotinoids show high acute toxicity to honeybees’ and ‘Chronic exposure of honeybees to sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoids can also result in serious effects, which include a wide range of behavioural disturbances in bees, such as problems with flying and navigation, impaired memory and learning, reduced foraging ability, as well as reduction in breeding success and disease resistance. In order to protect honey bees, bumble bees and other wild pollinators it is vital that the UK Government follows the lead of other European countries and bans the use of neonicotinoid pesticides before March 2013, which is the beginning of next planting season for oil seed rape and maize. The Government must act quickly: we cannot afford yet another year of declining numbers of pollinators.”

If there’s one food group that Israelis love, it’s vegetables. In fact, all over the Middle East, vegetables are treated with love and presented at table in infinite artful ways. But health hazards lurk on the well-loved produce. According to Haaretz, 11% of produce tested by the Israel Health Ministry showed unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues. Of over 5000 samples taken from 108 kinds of foods, 56% had traces of different pesticides. A scary tomato yielded 50 kinds of residues, while a cucumber showed 30 types. 46 kinds of pesticides were found on parsley. Those are the main ingredients of the famous Israeli salad. Are Israelis indeed eating pesticides with every bite of salad? Studies like the one showing how pregnant Jerusalemite women have higher pesticide levels in their bodies than pregnant New Yorkers support this suspicion.