European Union votes to ban bee-killing pesticides

http://www.dw.com/en/european-union-votes-to-ban-bee-killing-pesticides/a-43560159

European Union votes to ban bee-killing pesticides

Date 27.04.2018

An expert panel of representatives from the European Union's 28 member states voted on Friday in favor of extending a ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides that researchers warned have negative impacts on bee populations.

"Member states' representatives have endorsed a proposal by the European Commission to further restrict the use of three active substances ... for which a scientific review concluded that their outdoor use harms bees," the European Commission said in a statement.

The European Union's food safety watchdog has confirmed that pesticides harm bee populations. Several studies have shown that neonicotinoids affect the brains and bodies of bees and other insects, changing their behavior and reducing their fertility and lifespan.

The approved proposal calls for a full outdoor ban of three substances: imidacloprid which was developed by Germany's Bayer CropScience, clothianidin created by Bayer CropScience and Japan's Takeda Chemical Industries, as well as thiamethoxam from Switzerland's Syngenta.
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EU confirms insecticide danger

Harmful to bees

The three neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides based on the chemical structure of nicotine, have been widely used in agriculture over the past 20 years.

Unlike other pesticides which remain on the surface of plant foliage, neonicotinoids are absorbed into the plants, meaning that they kill off aphids and grubs, but also have an impact on other insects as well.

In February, the European Food Safety Authority released a report stating that "most uses" of the neonicotinoid pesticides posed a serious risk to bees.

Other studies found that the chemicals can lower bees' resistance to disease and causes them to become disoriented, meaning they cannot find their way back to their hives.