EPA has rejected a request by antipesticide activists and commercial
beekeepers to immediately suspend the use of products containing the
insecticide clothianidin. A petition filed in March alleges that
clothianidin poses an “imminent hazard” to honeybees. EPA agrees that
clothianidin is “acutely toxic” to a range of insects, including bees.
But the agency says there is no evidence that bees are being exposed to
levels of the insecticide that would cause serious declines in the
population. EPA also notes that clothianidin is used on 90% of the U.S.
corn crop and says the benefits to farmers outweigh the risks to bees
and the rest of the food supply that depends on bees for pollination.
Peter Jenkins, an attorney at the Center for Food Safety and author of
the petition, says EPA refused to consider additional information that
came to light “as bees started dying in large numbers this spring during
the April and May corn-planting season.” On average, the USDA reports,
beekeepers have been losing more than 30% of their honeybee colonies
each year since 2006.
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