Buglife is asking you to please write to your local MP to raise awareness of neonicotinoid pesticides, their effects on pollinators and to ask him/her to sign the Early Day Motion 1267 on neonicotinoids and encourage Lord Henley to act on the Buglife Asks. Please feel free to use the draft letter below. You can find your MPs address using the following link http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/ or click here for a website that gives an easy way to create and send an email to your MP, but you may want to copy the letter before you click.
Dear ……,
RE: UK pollinator declines and neonicotinoid pesticides
I would like to draw to your attention a recently leaked memo[1] from a US government agency the Environment Protection Agency, whose scientists warn that bees and other non-target invertebrates are at risk from a new neonicotinoid pesticide and that tests in the approval process are unable to detect environmental damage.
Neonicotinoids are highly toxic to bees and other non-target insects, the biggest concerns are that, being systemic they end up in the pollen and nectar in the flowers of treated crops, and hence could poison pollinators, and that being persistent they could wash into streams, ponds and rivers and destroy aquatic life.
In the leaked memo EPA scientists state that “information from standard tests and field studies, as well as incident reports involving other neonicotinoids insecticides (e.g., imidacloprid) suggest the potential for long-term toxic risk to honey bees and other beneficial insects” and they slate existing approvals research as deficient and request additional tests “for additional chronic testing on bee hive activity (e.g., effects to queen, larvae, etc.).” This reflects the conclusions of the 2009 Buglife report that highlighted inadequate testing in the European approvals process and asked the UK Government to carry out:
• A review of the inclusion of imidacloprid, other neonicotinoids and fipronil on the positive list of authorised substances in Annex I of Directive 91/414.
• A review of existing neonicotinoid and fipronil products authorised for outdoor use in the UK.
• Until the reviews are completed a precautionary suspension of all existing approvals for products containing neonicotinoids and fipronil where these products have been authorised for outdoor use in the UK.
• The development of international methodologies for assessing the effects of systemic pesticides and sub-lethal impacts on invertebrates
To date the UK government has failed to act upon these Asks despite there being an increasing body of scientific evidence. For example a study by Tennekes, 2010[2] published in the journal of Toxicology stressed the high toxicity of neonicotinoids at very low concentrations, noting that these low-level, long-term effects would not be detected by current test methods for pesticides approval in Europe.
In presenting this information to you, I am urging you to protect our pollinators, by signing the Early Day Motion 1267 [3] on neonicotinoids and by encouraging Lord Henley, as the minister responsible for pesticides, to act on the Buglife neonicotinoid Asks (see above) to ensure the long term protection of British bees, hoverflies, butterflies, water beetles and other bugs.
Yours sincerely,
1- Leaked EPA Memo http://www.panna.org/sites/default/files/Memo_Nov2010_Clothianidin.pdf
2 -Tennekes H. (2010) The Significance of the Druckrey-Kupfmuller Equation for Risk Assessment – The Toxicity of Neonicotinoid Insecticides to Arthropods is Reinforced by Exposure Time. Toxicology. 276 (1), 1-4
3 - Early Day Motion 1267 - http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=42282&SESSION=905
