Environmental groups want pesticide makers to release bee-death studies
OTTAWA — Four major environmental groups are demanding that Ottawa force pesticide makers to provide scientific studies looking at whether their products are killing off bees.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency has been asking registered pesticide manufacturers for the studies since 2004.
But despite several notices, the studies haven’t been produced, while the pesticides in question continue to be manufactured and sold.
Beekeepers, meanwhile, are growing ever more alarmed as their bees continue to die off.
It’s a serious issue for Canada’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry, since bees pollinate a wide variety of crops.
John Bennett of Sierra Club Canada Foundation says the government needs to listen to beekeepers who are suggesting so-called neonicotinoid pesticides are toxic to bees.
“It’s the beekeepers who are supplying the evidence (of toxicity),” Bennett told an Ottawa news conference Wednesday.
“But their dead bees are being ignored.”
Health Canada issued a report in September indicating that detectable residues of neonicotinoid insecticides used to treat corn and soybean seeds were found in large numbers of dead bee samples taken in 2013.
“Residues of neonicotinoid insecticides were detected in samples from approximately 80 per cent of the beekeepers for which samples have been analyzed.”
Sierra Club, the David Suzuki Foundation, Equiterre and the Wilderness Committee have sent a letter to Health Minister Rona Ambrose, calling on her to take action.
They say pesticide makers should not be allowed to sell their products until the studies are provided.
In November, Ambrose said her department didn’t expect to receive the required pesticide studies until 2015 at the earliest.
Most of the bees that are dying have been found in Ontario and Quebec.
The Ontario Beekeepers Association last week rejected the final report from a bee health working group, which promoted the use of non-insecticide treated seeds, but also concluded that neonicotinoids could be safe for bees if applied properly at planting time.
“As a beekeeper and farmer, I have seen the devastation caused by the indiscriminate use of this pesticide,” said association president Dan Davidson.
“This report does not reflect the magnitude of the threat to bee health in Ontario.”
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said her province is looking to Health Canada for evidence-based direction on a national approach to neonicotinoid use.
Stop stalling, environmental groups tell Minister
MEDIA RELEASE March 26, 2014 Ottawa – Four major environmental organizations have written to Health Minister Rona Ambrose asking her to stop stalling on taking action on pesticides suspected of killing bees, and that lack critical toxicity data.
Clothianidin, one of the neonicotinoid pesticides suspected of killing bees, remains on the market despite the lack of valid scientific studies to support assessment of environmental hazards to bees. Scientific studies investigating the pesticide’s chronic toxicity to bees have been requested since 2004 by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) from certain Clothianidin registration-holders, and since 2008-2009 from other companies whose registrations were renewed by PMRA in July 2013 and that sparked a notice of objection in September 2013 by the environmental groups.
The Minister stated in November of 2013 that the PMRA will not receive these required studies until 2015 with a final report from PMRA not available until 2017-18. If PMRA leaves this pesticide on the market and only takes band-aid measures until then, Clothianidin will have been on the market 14 years unsupported by valid scientific information on chronic toxicity. The agency itself calls this a ‘critical data gap in the risk assessment’ of the product.
Other missing information long-requested but not received, would tell the PMRA how Clothianidin behaves in soil, and in plants, including its concentration in nectar and pollen, in addition to its long-term, or chronic, toxicity to bees. “Why is the Minister allowing this situation to drag on for more than a decade?” asked Sidney Ribaux of Equiterre.
Over the years the PMRA has issued a series of what are called Section 12 Notices requiring the companies holding the registrations for certain uses of Clothianidin to provide these scientific studies. At least one set of deadlines passed and were extended with the agency renewing the registrations allowing Clothianidin to stay on the market while the studies remain outstanding.
“Despite a stack of Section 12 notices for Clothianidin and other similar pesticides (the neonicotinoids) the manufacturers aren’t supplying the information. It’s the beekeepers who are supplying the evidence, but their dead bees are being ignored,” stated John Bennett of Sierra Club Canada Foundation. According to the PMRA website in 2012: ‘Based on the preliminary information evaluated to date, there is an indication that pesticides used on treated corn seeds may have contributed to at least some of the 2012 spring bee losses that occurred in Ontario, however, there is still additional information being collected for consideration and final conclusions have not been made. We are looking closely at the specific circumstances that may have contributed to the unusual number of bee mortalities this spring.’ (The PMRA also reported during 2012 on spring bee losses in several other provinces).
According to the PMRA web site in 2013: ‘Samples of dead bees were collected for pesticide residue analysis along with live bees, comb with pollen and honey stores, vegetation, water, and soil. Preliminary residue results show that approximately 75% of the dead bee samples had detectable residues of neonicotinoid insecticides used to treat corn and soybean seed.
Residues of neonicotinoid insecticides were detected in samples from approximately 80% of the beekeepers for which samples have been analyzed. Clothianidin and/or thiamethoxam were detected in 90% of the comb pollen samples from affected yards and were also detected in some water, soil, and comb honey samples.’
“In addition to counting dead bees, PMRA might want to count the number of key studies it has demanded, but not received, from the industry over the years”, said Lisa Gue of the David Suzuki Foundation. “PMRA has put the cart before the horse by first issuing approvals allowing Clothianidin on the market and then spending years trying to get information from industry that the agency itself calls ‘critical data’ to the risk assessment for the product,” Gue added.
Sierra Club Canada Foundation, David Suzuki Foundation, Wilderness Committee, and Equiterre represented by the Canadian Environmental Law Association and Ecojustice filed a formal objection to the re-licensing of certain products containing Clothianidin in September 2013 asking for a review panel to be established. There has been no reply from the Minister to this formal application.
For more information:
• March, 2014 Letter to Health Minister Rona Ambrose with Section 12 Notices attached: CLICK HERE
• Notice of Objection (September 2013): CLICK HERE
• Letter to Minister Ambrose Re: Registration Decision RD2013-14 – Clutch 50 WDG, Arena 50 WDG and Clothianidin Insecticides (July 23, 2013): CLICK HERE
Leave a Reply