permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Bees win as US court rules against neonicotinoid pesticide
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28167-bees-win-as-us-court-rules-against-neonicotinoid-pesticide/

A worldwide dispute over the threat to bees posed by the class of
pesticides called neonicotinoids
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22229752-000-neonicotinoid-pesticides-are-bad-news-for-everything>,
took a dramatic new turn last week, when a US court overturned federal
approval for a new formulation called sulfoxaflor. Judges found that the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had relied on “flawed and limited”
data, and its green light was unjustified given the “precariousness of bee
populations”.

As a result of the US decisions, rules on the controversial chemicals in
the US and European Union are in bizarre contradiction. The US has approved
most neonicotinoids while now banning sulfoxaflor.

But the EU has banned most neonicotinoids for use on flowering crops and
spring sown crops
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23465-bees-need-europes-pesticide-ban-whatever-the-uk-says>
since 2013, but approved sulfoxaflor in July on the basis that it would not
have any unacceptable effects on the environment. “The public will be
justifiably confused and concerned,” says Matt Shardlow
<https://www.buglife.org.uk/about-us/whos-who>, CEO of Buglife, a British
group that campaigns against neonicotinoids.

The US ruling
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23308-bees-to-have-their-day-in-court-over-insecticide-use>
against sulfoxaflor, which is manufactured by Dow AgroSciences, was made by
a federal appeals court in San Francisco and applies nationally. The court
found
<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2015/09/10/13-72346.pdf>
that, in granting approval for sulfoxaflor in 2013, the agency had violated
its own rules on obtaining safety information, and should collect more data
on its effects on bees before granting approval for its use.

Circuit judge Randy Smith said: “I am inclined to believe the EPA… decided
to register sulfoxaflor unconditionally in response to public pressure for
the product and attempted to support its decision retrospectively with
studies it had previously found inadequate.”

Dow, which says the chemical has a multibillion dollar market, said it
would seek to overturn the ruling by undertaking “additional regulatory
work”. The EPA did not comment, but has previously argued
<http://pesticides.supportportal.com/link/portal/23002/23008/Article/35618/Why-did-EPA-register-sulfoxaflor-I-heard-it-harms-bees>
that, while sulfoxaflor is toxic to bees, “the key is to limit exposure” by
not spraying crops at a time when they attract bees.

Environmentalists and bee-keepers’ associations who brought the action
believe the ruling could turn the tide against neonicotinoids in general.
Campaigners told *New Scientist* that the same criticisms of the quality of
research highlighted
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27264-bee-pesticide-study-furore-is-called-a-scandal>
by the court applied to the three other neonicotinoid pesticides:
clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid.

Neonicotinoids have grown popular for protecting fruit, vegetables and
arable crops against boring and biting pests, including aphids and beetles.
But they have been widely accused of harming bees
<https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27395-tainted-love-bees-prefer-food-laced-with-harmful-pesticides>
and other pollinators by disrupting their navigation systems, with major
impacts on the survival of colonies. The US court found that the EPA, after
initially asking Dow for more studies on these sub-lethal effects,
eventually granted approval for the pesticides without them.

The EU banned most neonicotinoids in 2013, citing concerns for bees raised
by its scientific watchdog, the European Food Standards Authority. But,
under pressure from manufacturers, Europe last month approved sulfoxaflor,
while leaving final decisions on its use to national regulators. This
despite the EFSA advising <http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/150826>
that “missing information” about sulfoxaflor meant that “a high risk to
bees was not excluded”. Meanwhile, a review of the wider ban on
neonicotinoids begins this autumn.

The UK suspended the EU ban
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33641646> on neonicotinoids
in some parts of the country in July, so the pesticides could be used on
oilseed rape crops.