Canada to phase out most uses of pesticides linked to bee deaths
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Eric Atkins Published August 15, 2018 Updated August 15, 2018
The Canadian government plans to phase out most uses of two pesticides linked to the deaths of bees and other insects, a move environmental groups say is welcome but should be implemented immediately.
Health Canada said on Wednesday it will ban most outdoor uses of clothianidin and thiamethoxam over three to five years because “harmful levels” of the chemicals in rivers and streams are also affecting mayflies, midges and other aquatic insects, an important food source for fish and birds.
Scott Kirby, director-general of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), said the phase-out will begin after a consultation period next year. He said most uses of the chemicals will end within the three-year period but added that the longer time frame is needed so growers can find replacements.
Environmental groups and critics of the PMRA called it a significant step in the effort to protect bees and other pollinators, but said the ban should be in place sooner.
Ottawa previously announced a phase-out of a related product, imidacloprid, and all three pesticides facing a ban are in a class known as neonicotinoids, widely used to grow canola, soybeans and other field crops as well as sod, ornamental flowers and vegetables.
The insecticides are systemic, which means they become part of the plant and render it toxic to bees and other insects. Studies have shown the neurotoxins affect bees’ ability to find food and maintain healthy, productive colonies. The products are slow to break down in the soil and can wash into water bodies.
Tibor Szabo, who raises and sells queen bees in Guelph, Ont., and sits on the board of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, said the proposed ban comes too late for beekeepers who have lost hives and struggled to stay in business.
“These things should never have been conditionally registered without any risk assessments done on bees,” he said. “That was a complete rip-off of the taxpayer. It killed so many pollinators in the past 10 years that there is no way they will ever be replaced – the genetic diversity that has been lost is permanent.”
He said chemical companies are constantly developing and marketing new systemic pesticides that are just as lethal to insects as the ones being banned, touching off years of testing processes in which bees and other pollinators are threatened.
“If they pull these ones, what the hell are they doing about all the other ones that have popped out on the market in the past few years?” he said.
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