Bee-Killing Pesticide Imidacloprid Voluntarily Withdrawn for Almonds
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Calif DPR Recall Status of California Pesticides ca2011-10.pdf | 249.86 KB |
Bee-Killing Pesticide Imidacloprid Voluntarily Withdrawn for Almonds
By Kevin Hansen
November 21st 2011
Under pressure from the US State of California, pesticide manufacturers have voluntarily withdrawn the pesticide imidacloprid from usage on almonds. Imidacloprid is widely blamed as contributing to the dieoff of honeybees around the world.
Apparently, industry voluntarily removed almonds from the list of “approved uses” rather than undergo the public scrutiny and cost involved in re-evaluating a pesticide which industry now says is a "small-market” for them. Almonds are a major cash crop for politically influential and ecologically-aware California. The voluntary withdrawal of this pesticide was reportedly so unusual to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) that they were, apparently, unsure how to process the application.
Neonicotinoid systemic pesticides like imidacloprid are particularly troubling because they create toxicity throughout the plant - e.g. "systemic" – in the roots, leaves, stems, flowers, pollen and nectar.
This shift was revealed by California's Department of Pesticide Regulation (see the attachment above; the relevant sections are near the end of the document), and confirmed by industry insiders.
Although it represents one chemical usage on one crop, it may be the first time in the US that such has occured for a systemic pesticide, under pressure.
Back Story
The US State of California had required pesticide manufacturers to reevaluate a large number of pesticides containing imidacloprid, one of the most widely used of the neonicotinoid (nicotine-based) systemic pesticides. You can download the California pesticide recall notice here:
The reasons for the California recall were twofold:
- First, concentrations of imidacloprid were shown to accumulate in soil over time. In some cases, soil dosages were lethal to insects in the following year’s crop with no new pesticide application;
- Second, imidacloprid toxicities were much higher in pollen and nectar than expected, and therefore the risks to beneficial insects such as honeybees were underestimated in the original risk assessment submitted to California.
California's recall forced the manufacturers to reevaluate toxicities using the new information.
For activists involved in fighting this class of pesticides, the message is clear: pressure can work, and even an intermediate step like a “reevaluation” can be effective in some cases.
An insider reports:
"With respect to the voluntary withdrawal for almonds, Bayer decided that it would be better to withdraw this use than to conduct the residue studies. Obviously they must know that the residues will be quite high, and if the almond studies showed high residues, then it is quite likely that residues in other nut tree and orchard crops are also high. There are still a large number of uses of imidacloprid left, so the company is not giving up much with the withdrawal of almond use.
"Another concern that I have with this ploy is that the almond growers may use an alternative systemic pesticide which is just as toxic to bees. The top toxic insecticides to bees on an acute basis are as follows: spinosad, emamectin benzoate, fipronil, thiamethoxam, clothanidin, imidacloprid, and dinotefuran. These insecticides are also systemic and persistent and have a high potential to get into the nectar, pollen, and fruit of plants (not many people are looking for residues in the fruit). If any of these pesticides are used as a substitute for imidalcoprid, bee losses will continue."
