Natural History Wanderings

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a preliminary pollinator risk assessment for the neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, which shows a threat to some pollinators. EPA’s assessment, prepared in collaboration with California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, indicates that imidacloprid potentially poses risk to hives when the pesticide comes in contact with certain crops that attract pollinators.

To read risk assessment by EPA on risk of Insecticides to Bees at  01/06/2016: EPA Releases the First of Four Preliminary Risk Assessments for Insecticides Potentially Harmful to Bees

The Xerces Society had several criticisms of the study. They said

1. The EPA used managed honey bees as surrogates for native bees even while it acknowledges that native bees face potentially greater risks.
2. The EPA failed to address the risks caused when imidacloprid is mixed with other chemicals
3. The EPA disregards the clear risk to bumble bees and other native bees from the use of imidacloprid on tomato production.
4. The EPA failed to evaluate potential risks of imidacloprid to declining monarch butterflies.

Read the Xerces Society’s article elaborating on the above criticisms at Xerces Society criticisms of the study
http://www.xerces.org/blog/epa-preliminary-risk-assessment-for-the-neonicotinoid-insecticide-imidacloprid/