Tuesday, July 04, 2017 By Joe Sandler Clarke,
Energydesk | Report
https://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2017/06/29/bees-major-new-study-neonics/
Scientists have found for the
first time that neonicotinoid pesticides can harm honey bees in the real world.
The major new study from the
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) found that pesticides called
neonicotinoids can cause harm to bees, a development that is likely to increase
calls for a ban of the chemicals across Europe.
The UK -- which has long
lobbied against a ban -- could make its own rules on pesticide use after
Brexit.
Conservative MEP Julie Girling recently tried unsuccessfully
to derail the Commission's efforts to introduce an outright ban in the EU
Parliament.
Industry Funding
The finding is particularly
significant because the study was funded in part by pesticides giants Bayer and
Syngenta.
The hotly anticipated
research, published in the journal Science this evening, also
discovered that exposure to the nicotine-based chemicals can reduce the
reproductive success of three different bee species -- honey bees, bumblebees
and the red mason bee.
With £3 million in funding
from the chemical companies and additional money from Natural Environment
Research Council (NERC), the researchers were able to conduct a large scale,
field-realistic experiment across three different European countries -- UK,
Germany and Hungary.
Previous experiments showing
that neonicotinoids cause harm to bees have been criticised by industry because
of their limited scope and test conditions not mimicking real life.
The researchers exposed three
bee species to winter oilseed rape crops treated with two types of
neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer and Syngenta.
The researchers found that
neonics affected bees in different ways from country to country, with the
impact of the chemicals more marked in Hungary and the UK than in Germany,
where neonics were found to have no impact on honey bees.
Overall, clothianidin,
manufactured by Bayer, was found to have a more profound impact on bee health.
Complex Results
CEH scientists acknowledged
that the results of the study were nuanced.
In a press release, CEH lead
author Dr Ben Woodcock explained: "The neonicotinoids investigated caused
a reduced capacity for all three bee species to establish new populations in
the following year, at least in the UK and Hungary."
Professor Richard Pywell, the
co-author of the study, said in a statement that the results of the research
were complex.
"Neonicotinoids remain a
highly contentious issue with previous research on both honeybees and wild bees
inconclusive.
"This latest field study
was designed, as far as possible, to reflect the real world due to its size and
scope. We therefore believe it goes a considerable way to explaining the
inconsistencies in the results of past research, as we were better able to
account for natural variation in factors like exposure to the pesticide, bee
food resources and bee health for different bee species.
"Our findings also raise
important questions about the basis for regulatory testing of future
pesticides."
Industry Response
A Bayer spokesperson told
Energydesk the company was disappointed with way the results had been
presented.
He said: "This study is
one of a number of landscape studies carried out recently. The results of the
CEH study are inconsistent and therefore inconclusive with variability of
effects over both the bee species and the countries in which they were studied.
"We believe that had
environmental factors (colony strength and landscape effects) other than
exposure to treated oilseed rape been appropriately taken into account in the
analysis, the results would have been similar to, for example, recent landscape
studies conducted with clothianidin in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, a state in
northern Germany which demonstrated the safety of clothianidin seed treatments
in oilseed rape for bee pollinators under realistic conditions."
In a statement sent to
Energydesk, Syngenta were keen to highlight the findings of the study in
Germany where neonics had no impact on honey bees.
Dr Peter Campbell, head of
research collaborations at the company said: "We welcome the fact that the
study concludes that 'neonicotinoid residues were detected infrequently… [and]
direct mortality effects by exposure to high concentrations of neonicotinoids
are likely to be rare'. We were also pleased to see that in Germany during crop
flowering, the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments has a positive and
beneficial impact for both honeybees and bumblebees."
The statement continued:
"It is also important to better understand the small number of potentially
harmful effects reported in Hungary and the United Kingdom and how these differ
from Germany where the results were positive."
UK Lobbying
Neonicotinoids are the most
widely used pesticides in the world.
A partial ban on neonicotinoids
has been in place across the EU since 2013, due to concerns about the
pesticide's impact on bee health.
Recent news reports suggest
that the European Commission will call for a complete ban later this year.
The UK has long lobbied
against the ban against neonics in Brussels. Back in 2015, the government
allowed some uses of the chemicals on UK fields, following pressure
from the National Farmers Union, but a similar request was turned down
last year.
Uncertainty surrounds what the
UK's position will be on the controversial pesticides post-Brexit.
In response to the release of
the CEH study, a spokesperson from Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs failed to back an outright ban:
"Bees and other
pollinators are vital to the diversity of our environment and food production
which is why we are leading a nationwide strategy to better protect them.
"We are encouraging
farmers to provide the food and habitats pollinators need on their land, as
well as promoting simple actions the public can take to help such as cutting
grass less often and growing pollen-rich plants."
This study follows on from
research published last summer by CEH, which linked neonics to the long-term
decline of the wild bee population in the UK.
Back in September, Energydesk uncovered private studies commissioned by Bayer
and Syngenta which showed that their neonicotinoid pesticides can cause serious
harm to bees.
