Posted August 23, 2013
Last week, the EPA released new pesticide labels in an
effort to protect bees and other pollinators by prohibiting the use of some
neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present.
According to the press
release, the new labels, available here
and here,
will have “a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure
and spray drift precautions.” The labels
will affect products containing the neonicotinoids: imidacloprid, dinotefuran,
clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, said, “Multiple factors
play a role in bee colony declines, including pesticides. The Environmental Protection Agency is taking
action to protect bees from pesticide exposure and these label changes will
further our efforts.”
In May, the EPA and USDA issued a report on honey bee
health, “showing scientific consensus that there are a complex set of stressors
associated with honey bee declines including loss of habitat, parasites and
disease, genetics, poor nutrition, and pesticide exposure.” The “Report on the National Stakeholders
Conference on Honey Bee Health” is available here.
The state of bee health continues to be a topic of
discussion in the news. NBC
News reports that concerns about the pesticides “have
become more widespread since June, when tens of thousands of bumblebees were
killed in an Oregon parking lot due to the improper use of a pesticide
containing dinotenfuran.” The European
Commission is currently implementing a ban on the use of neonicotinoids. Additionally, the environmental and consumer
groups have filed a lawsuit against the EPA to limit the use of
neonicotinoids. A Reuters story on the
lawsuit is available here.
