Food Safety and Environmental Organizations Call on EPA to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides
- Submitted by: Love Knowledge
- Category: Environment
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Food Safety and Environmental Organizations Call on EPA to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides
Groups will deliver hundreds of thousands of comments to EPA Headquarters Monday for neonicotinoid comment period
WASHINGTON - A coalition of food safety and environmental groups will deliver hundreds of thousands of public comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday, urging the agency to ban neonicotinoid pesticides--a leading cause of pollinator decline and massive bee die-offs. The agency will close its comment period Monday for its preliminary pollinator risk assessment for three neonicotinoid insecticides: clothianidin, thiamethoxam and dinotefuran and for the updated assessment of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid.
Pollinators, including thousands of species of bees, are critical for the growth of fruit, vegetables, and flowering plants that humans depend on. A growing body of scientific data implicates neonic pesticides as key contributors to declining pollinator populations. Bayer and Syngenta, the companies that manufacture neonicotinoids, recently commissioned a study that tested fields in Europe for contamination and the effects on both managed and native bee colonies. This landmark study found clear evidence that bee colonies that feed on plants treated with these pesticides suffer terrible losses.
Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world's largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.
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