The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that a popular pesticide has harmful effects on honeybees when it is used on citrus and cotton.
The scientific risk assessment has been done on the class of pesticides called neonicotinoids and on their effects on bees on a chronic basis. The EPA reported that the chemical didn't harm bees or their hives in some cases; however, in other cases the risk is significant.
The effects of this class of pesticide on bees depend mostly on the type of crop. For this reason, the first scientific risk assessment of neonicotinoids doesn't clear the way for an outright ban. Both the activists and the pesticide-maker companies are unhappy with the report. However, this is an important issue because bees are in trouble.
Honeybees are not having only an important economic role in producing honey, but they also have a crucial role to food supply. It is known that around one-third of the human diet is provided by insect-pollinated plants. About 80 percent of that pollination is been made by honeybees.
In the near future is unlikely and action on the pesticide in order to solve the issue of the shrinking bee population. According to the University of Illinois bee expert May Berenbaum, as reported by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, it's not just the pesticide alone that is affecting the bees population but rather a complex mix of factors including the way how fungicides and pesticides interact, parasites, lack of food for the bees and disease.
Some advocacy groups target neonicotinoids and call for bans on the chemicals. However, pesticide-makers dispute the studies that have pointed to this problem and even the new EPA report.
In the meantime, in Europe this class of pesticide was first banned and then the ban was lifted. Before it could take any action, the EPA is looking for more specific and targeted research, according to the Los Angeles Times.
