Bee Deaths, Pesticides, And A Stalled Regulatory System.pdf

Pollinators, including birds, bats, and bees, are essential for food production, pollinating crops such as apples, almonds, and pumpkins, as well as forage crops like alfalfa and clover that provide feed for cattle and other animals. North America's approximately 4,000 wild bee species also help pollinate agricultural crops and the seeds, nuts, and fruits consumed by animals. However, bee populations have been declining over the last decade, raising concerns among scientists and policy experts.

Stressors contributing to bee decline include poisoning from toxic insecticides, loss of habitat from land use change and herbicide use, diseases from parasites like Varroa destructor mites, small hive beetles, and Nosema fungus, and climate change disrupting the timing between bees and bloom. Any one of these factors can be enough to injure or kill bees, but combinations of stressors can cause serious harm or death.

Neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides are a significant contributor to bee population declines. These systemic pesticides are designed to kill insects that harm crops but also kill beneficial species like bees. Neonic pesticides are contaminating land, soil, and water, posing toxic threats to earthworms, snails, butterflies, birds, and bees. They are applied to seeds before planting, releasing neonic residue as dust into the air and soil, and infusing the growing plant with neonics, leading to contamination of pollen and nectar.

Neonics are persistent in the environment, leaching into surrounding soil and accumulating in soil for months to decades. They can affect non-target plants and insects over long periods, wreaking havoc on biodiversity. There is disturbing evidence that neonics are making their way into our food supply, with limited testing by the USDA finding neonics in fruits and vegetables. The presence of neonics in food and water raises concerns about their potential health effects on people.

Bees' exposure to neonics can cause effects ranging from acutely lethal to chronic injury, with some neonic pesticides being 5,000 to 10,000 times more acutely toxic to bees than DDT. Studies of chronic exposure to doses well below those that cause immediate death have been shown to impair bee health in multiple ways.