Producers will still have access to most imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam uses following the April 11 ruling.

In 2016, the federal government announced plans to phase out imidacloprid over three to five years, based on unacceptable risks to aquatic insects.

Proposed crackdowns on clothianidin and thiamethoxam, which Health Canada found posed a similar risk, quickly followed. Both pesticides were also slated to be phased out.

Health Canada later separated the debate between aquatic insect and pollinator risk.

The resulting stream of 2017 and 2018 proposals — based around pollinator risk — gave a more lenient tone.

Why it matters: Three neonicotinoid pesticides have final decisions from Health Canada, and both beekeepers and crop growers seem happy, but another round of decisions with heavier consequences is yet to come.

Health Canada proposed to cancel clothianidin for strawberry and orchard use and limit application on crops like melon and squash, but left other agricultural uses largely unchanged.

Thiamethoxam was slated for cancellation on foliar application in orchards and soil use for berries, melons, squash and fruiting vegetables — as well as a ban on foliar spray on berries, legumes and fruiting vegetables during bloom.

Imidacloprid, meanwhile, would be cancelled for some foliar applications (pome fruit, some tree nuts, most small berries and fruit) and soil uses (legumes, herbs, berries), but maintained its use for strawberries and potato, except during bloom. All three had added label requirements for cereal or legume seed treatments.

Those decisions largely echoed Health Canada’s final word on pollinator risk on April 11. The April decisions will have no impact on canola growers or seed treatment in potatoes, and foliar application in potatoes will still be allowed, although not while plants are in bloom. Thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, likewise, will still be allowed for seed treatment in soybeans and peas, although not for foliar treatment during bloom and thiamethoxam is limited to foliar use after soybeans are done blooming.

“Bloom is a little bit of a hazy term with potatoes,” Leonard Rossnagel, a retired potato agronomist and previous director with the Manitoba Seed Potato Growers Association, said, pointing to varietal differences in bloom.

Very few neonicotinoids are sprayed on a growing crop of potatoes anyway, he said.

Manitoba’s beekeepers say they’re happy canola growers skirted restrictions.

“One of our fears was that canola growers were not going to be planting as much canola,” Manitoba Beekeepers Association president Mark Friesen said. “That’s always a concern. This won’t be a hindrance to them.”

“Not to say that we don’t want to see less pesticides on a crop,” he added. “We always want to see less pesticides on a crop.”

The beekeeping association also praised new changes in application timing.

There’s little pollination impact between bees and potatoes, according to Friesen.

“That being said, potatoes are the No. 1 overspray risk for crops in Manitoba and other areas,” he said, although he noted that improved practices have limited bee loss on potatoes.

Other shoe?

Growers aren’t celebrating just yet.

While final, Health Canada has said that the April 11 decisions are based only on risk to pollinators and are separate from risk to aquatic insects, one of the main concerns that prompted the proposed phase-out in 2016.

Decisions based on aquatic insect risk are expected in January 2020.

“These final decisions will not replace the pollinator decisions announced on April 11, 2019,” Health Canada said in an emailed statement. “If mitigation is required (e.g. cancellation of uses or restrictions to applications), it will be in addition to the cancellations and changes required to protect pollinators.”

Those 2020 decisions may yet curb most agricultural use of those chemicals. The department released proposed changes based on aquatic insect risk in August 2018. Those changes would cancel all outdoor crop use of thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Health Canada has said imidacloprid is also still up for cancellation for most agricultural uses, based on aquatic insect risk.

“Until that decision comes through, I don’t think the industry is breathing too much of a sigh of relief,” Rossnagel said. “We might call this one a hurdle.”

Impact so far

The debate over imidacloprid is unlikely to hobble the potato industry, Rossnagel said. The chemistry has become unpopular in potato use, although clothianidin and thiamethoxam are widely used as seed treatments.

Both are key in Colorado potato beetle control, something that has been of increasing concern in Manitoba, although producers have noted resistance issues with those chemistries.

Manitoba’s U-pick, fruit and vegetable farms may be harder hit by the April 11 decisions. Health Canada maintained its proposal to cancel foliar use in apple orchards for all three pesticides, as well as soil use for many berry crops and fruiting vegetables. The changes also cancelled foliar application of clothianidin in strawberries, and banned foliar use for many crops during bloom.

The decision will impact vegetable and fruit growers, the Canadian Horticultural Council says. It added that it will be working with growers during Health Canada’s two-year transition period.

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They’ve signalled their intention to grill Health Canada and the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) over their plans to eliminate the use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam over the next three to five years because they pose a threat to aquatic insects.

Consultations with government officials are to run until the end of November and could become even sharper if Health Canada goes ahead with its scheduled announcement later this month it will proceed with a phase-out of imidacloprid, the third neonic registered for use in Canada because it’s a danger to aquatic insects and pollinators.

“Sustainable production and science-based decisions about risk are the foundation of our industry,” said Brian Innes, vice-president of public affairs for the Canola Council of Canada. Clothianidin and thiamethoxam “are very important for our growers, and without viable alternatives, the ban will significantly impact the canola sector.”

The council is concerned about the loss of these two neonics because it would lead to lower yields and increase the risks for growers from flea beetles. A study published in 2017 based on European growers’ experience without these products showed that growers faced an increased risk of insect damage, had lower yields and, as a result, seeded less canola.

“With more than 22 million acres of canola in Canada in 2018, banning these plant protection tools would have a dramatic impact,” the council said. “These products have been responsibly used by canola producers as a seed treatment to control pests as part of their integrated pest management programs.”

The Canadian Horticulture Council said it was disappointed “to be potentially losing two valuable crop protection tools, leaving many growers with limited options. We hope that the PMRA will use real-use data when making its final decision, and that it will consider growers’ critical need for safe, effective crop protection products that allow them to offer locally produced quality fruit and vegetables for Canadian consumers.”

Pulse Canada said it will take its concerns about a lack of alternatives into the consultations while Grain Growers of Canada has said it will comment further on the phase-out when it has completed its review of the mid-August announcement.

Pierre Petelle, CropLife Canada president and CEO, said, “There are some alternatives available for some crop/pest combinations, but not alternatives for all of them. We haven’t had an opportunity to review to provide more details, but it’s essential that farmers have a variety of tools to help them manage pest pressures.

“Pesticides are registered to address specific pest problems and when it comes to insects, they may only be effective on certain phases of the insect’s life cycle and/or under specific crop and climate conditions,” he said. “Furthermore, from a product stewardship perspective, having only one tool to manage a pest could lead to issues with resistance.

“This is why we advocate for farmers to have many tools in their tool box and why our members invest significantly into research and development of new products. Our concern is that these investments into research and development could be jeopardized in the future if such a modern class of insecticides with extremely low toxicity to humans and animals is not passing the PMRA’s assessment.”

When asked about agriculture concerns about the lack of alternatives to the two neonics, Health Canada said seven products were registered for most uses of clothianidin and thiamethoxam. It is currently consulting stakeholders on the suitability of these registered alternatives to these neonicotinoids. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s multi-stakeholder forum is also examining available alternatives.

The final decision will consider what to do “if no suitable alternatives to the use exist, as long as the human health and environmental risks, as well as value of the pesticide, are considered to be acceptable,” Health Canada said.

While the introduction of best management practices during the planting of corn and soybeans in Ontario, which is where the controversy over neonics began, has greatly reduced bee deaths, the department said it’s not convinced BMPs would correct the threat to aquatic insects.

It considered data for the 2017 season submitted by the Environmental Monitoring Working Group in its reviews of clothianidin and thiamethoxam, along with monitoring data available from other sources. They included “reports on potential risk mitigation measures such as methods for spray drift reduction and the use of vegetative filter strips to help reduce run-off into water bodies. These were also considered in the assessment of the special reviews.

“While other options are available, at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that these proposed measures for the continued use of clothianidin and thiamethoxam will be sufficiently protective of aquatic insects.”

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Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is proposing that two neonicotinoid pesticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, be phased out over the next three to five years.

Following special reviews, PMRA found that the pesticides are harmful to aquatic insects which are a major source of food for fish, birds and other animals.

The chemicals are widely used as seed treatments for the majority of canola grown in Western Canada. While the impact on bees is often mentioned in discussions on neonics, PMRA itself came out with a proposed decision in 2017 noting that the neonicotinoid seed treatments don’t negatively hurt pollinators, including bees.

“These seed treatments are used on canola to prevent the young plants from being eaten by flea beetles,” said Brian Innes, vice-president of public affairs with the Canola Council of Canada.

“We’re concerned about not having these products will have a significant impact on the canola industry,” said Innes adding “it will mean increased risks and reduced yields.”

It can be very hard to predict when the insect when flea beetles will strike a field and individual fields can be lost in as little as 36 hours, according to Innes. While foliar chemical applications are an option, the small window makes control difficult.

“If we remove the neonicotinoids, it forces people to use other alternatives,” said John Gavloski, extension entomologist with Manitoba Agriculture. There are trade-offs with other pesticides, he said, making it hard to determine the eventual impact on crop production.

Diamides are a group of chemicals that can also be used as a seed treatment against flea beetles, he said. They are not as water-soluble as neonicotinoids — which comes with its own pros and cons.

The lower water solubility of diamides means they are slower to react. However, with neonicotinoids, a rain right after planting can wash away much of the seed treatment, which would not be the case with diamides.

Gavloski said more chemical options were also being researched and should be available for the market soon.

While more tools could take the place of neonicotinoids, “we’re very concerned as a canola industry, because any tool that’s taken away from farmers has a negative impact on their ability to produce canola and manage their risk,” said Innes.

Small impacts on yields could lead to hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in the bigger picture, he said.

There is a 90-day window of comment on the PMRA proposals, and Innes said the Canola Council will review the decision to make sure all of the available information was taken into account.

“We as a canola industry very much value a science-based review process,” he said.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow him at @PhilFW on Twitter.

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PMRA officials on Wednesday announced 90-day consultation periods on its decisions for both clothianidin and thiamethoxam, following “special reviews” which found both substances being measured at levels harmful to aquatic insects.

Clothianidin, under its current conditional registration, is marketed by Bayer in Canada as insecticides and seed treatments under brand names including Poncho, Prosper, Titan and Sepresto and by Nufarm as NipsIt. Thiamethoxam’s conditional registration covers products such as Cruiser and Helix, marketed by Syngenta.

PMRA proposes to cancel all outdoor agricultural and turf uses for clothianidin, and all outdoor (non-greenhouse) agricultural and ornamental uses for thiamethoxam, over three to five years, depending on availability of alternatives.

Scott Kirby, director general of PMRA’s environmental assessment directorate, said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday that most affected products would be phased out over the shorter period as alternatives are available.

Final special review decisions are to be announced at the end of next year, Health Canada said, and “will take into consideration any comments or new information received during the consultation period.”

Special reviews for both neonics were announced in November 2016 in the wake of PMRA’s routine re-evaluation of the third major neonic, imidacloprid, sold mainly by Bayer under brands such as Admire, Gaucho, Concept and Intercept.

Through that re-evaluation, Health Canada said it found imidacloprid being measured at levels harmful to certain aquatic insect populations such as mayflies and midges — a “critical food source” for fish, birds and other animals. The department thus proposed to phase out most uses of imidacloprid over three to five years.

Special reviews, Health Canada said, are launched based on “reasonable grounds to believe that the health or environmental risks, or the value (including effectiveness), of a pesticide is unacceptable.”

An environmental assessment of clothianidin showed that, in aquatic environments in Canada, the product is being measured at concentrations that are harmful to aquatic insects and most outdoor uses of clothianidin in Canada thus are “not sustainable.”

Modelling results from a risk assessment for thiamethoxam showed a “minimal acute risk to freshwater invertebrates” but found exposure on a “chronic basis” poses a risk to those species, Health Canada said.

However, the agency deemed the risks to aquatic invertebrates from greenhouse uses of thiamethoxam to be “acceptable” and plans to allow the chemical’s continued registration for greenhouse uses, “provided wastewater mitigation instructions on product labels are followed.”

For both neonics, PMRA said it will consider any “alternate risk management proposals” put forward during the comment period, “provided that they can achieve acceptable levels in the environment within the same timeframe.”

PMRA had proposed in late 2017 to grant three-year extensions to the registrations for both products, pending the outcome of the special review, while also phasing out certain specific uses of the products to reduce risk to pollinators. Final decisions relating to the pollinator evaluation are expected at the end of this year, Kirby said.

Grain Growers of Canada, in a separate statement Wednesday, said it plans to further review PMRA’s proposed decisions.

Meanwhile, GGC president Jeff Nielsen said, the group is concerned that PMRA’s re-evaluation process “is focused on publishing proposed decisions as fast as possible,” which appears to limit the agency’s ability to ensure “all relevant information” is available.

The focus on speed, he said, also “prevents (PMRA) from engaging farmers so that we can fully understand the issues they raise, which would allow us to provide the PMRA with the information required to refine these decisions.”

Both products “are very important for our growers, and without viable alternatives, the ban will significantly impact the canola sector,” Brian Innes, vice-president of public affairs for the Canola Council of Canada, said in a separate release.

The council, which said it will also “thoroughly review” the PMRA proposal, on Wednesday cited a 2017 study of European growers’ experience without neonics, showing increased risk of insect damage, lower yields and, as a result, fewer canola acres.

“With more than 22 million acres of canola in Canada in 2018, banning these plant protection tools would have a dramatic impact,” the council said.

CropLife Canada, representing the crop protection industry, said it found the PMRA proposal “especially disappointing and confusing to many, given that earlier this year the PMRA released a seemingly contradictory proposed decision validating the safety of both of these products to pollinators as seed treatments, which is one of their primary uses.”

CropLife CEO Pierre Petelle said Wednesday the organization will also review the PMRA’s proposals and data, “correct any misinterpretation of the data and provide comments to address any information gaps identified.”

The Reuters news agency on Wednesday quoted a Syngenta Canada spokesperson as saying the company is disappointed with the decision and believes the PMRA did not consider all relevant information. Reuters also quoted a Bayer spokesperson as saying the company believes clothianidin has a “favourable environmental profile.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The department said May 31 that an updated pollinator assessment by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency found that while the risks to human health are acceptable, the insecticide poses environmental threats to aquatic insects and pollinators.

The department plans consultations on these findings ending Aug. 29 before making its final decision in December 2018 to phase out agriculture and most other outdoor uses of imidacloprid over three to five years, starting in 2019.

The decision came despite the department’s acknowledgment that “There has been a 70 per cent to 92 per cent decrease in reported bee deaths or other adverse effects since Health Canada implemented previous actions to protect bees from the dust from the planting of corn and soybean seeds treated with neonicotinoids.”

Imidacloprid is a seed treatment that is used on cereals and crops such as peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas. There are also foliar and soil applications that occur in horticultural crops.

• Read more: EU nations back ban on all outdoor neonic use

Rebecca Lee, executive director of the Canadian Horticultural Council, said, “The loss of imidacloprid use on vegetables, pome fruit, stone fruit, small fruit and berries is extremely discouraging and puts Canadian fruit and vegetable farmers at a serious competitive disadvantage.

“Imidacloprid is of critical importance to our industry, especially given the lack of available alternative products for farmers to turn to for insect pest management,” she said.

The horticultural sector wants to minimize environmental impacts and protect bees and pollinators, she said.

“Our farmers have a unique and important relationship with pollinators, and often work closely with beekeepers who provide the essential pollination that many fruits and vegetables require,” she said.

Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada, said the phase-out is a concern.

“In some cases, such as wireworm infestation, the only viable alternative available is cultivation,” he said. “Not only will this impose additional costs on farmers, it will have a significant negative environmental impact as increased cultivation will reduce soil organic matter, release carbon that has been sequestered through conservation tillage practices and increase the risk of soil erosion.”

Mac Ross, manager, market access and trade policy with Pulse Canada, said while the latest Health Canada announcement only mentions risk mitigation measures to prevent dust creation during planting of dry peas, dry bean, fababean, lentil and chickpeas, the department’s goal is to phase out imidacloprid.

He said the department will be reminded during the consultation of Pulse Canada’s submission to PMRA of the importance of the neonic insecticide as a tool in sustainable cropping systems. The group also wants “additional information and clarification on the proposed phase-out, with a focus on the data, assumptions and modelling undertaken by the PMRA in assessing the risk of imidacloprid to aquatic invertebrates.”

Paul Thiel, vice-president, product development and regulatory science, Bayer Crop Science, said Canadian farmers depend on neonicotinoid insecticides due to their efficacy, their safety to applicators and their favourable environmental profile, when used according to label instructions.

“These insecticides have helped farmers and homeowners manage destructive insect pests and extensive research has shown that these products are not responsible for localized declines in honeybee colony health that have been reported,” he said.

Bayer will conduct a thorough review of the PMRA review “and provide input into the consultation process. We support regulation that is based on sound, science-based evidence and considers the best management practices adopted by Canadian farmers.”

The pollinator assessment is the latest step in Health Canada’s re-evaluation of imidacloprid. In November 2016, it announced a re-evaluation of the neonic to look at health and environmental risks.

Among the uses to be phased out are foliar application on orchard fruit, some tree nuts, and most small fruit and berries, soil uses on berries, some ornamentals and herbs, and outdoor-grown fruiting vegetables, cucurbits, and legumes. There will be changes to the timing of foliar application on some tree nuts, strawberries, grapes, fruiting vegetables, legumes, potatoes, peanuts, tobacco, hops, and some herbs and additional protective label instructions for cereal and legume seed treatment uses.

The department is still conducting re-evaluations on two other neonics — clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. Thus far, these two products do not pose risks to pollinators and their use will continue on a restricted basis.

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The ban, championed by environmental activists, covers the use of three active substances — imidacloprid, developed by Bayer CropScience; clothianidin, developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer CropScience; and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam.

“All outdoor uses will be banned and the neonicotinoids in question will only be allowed in permanent greenhouses where exposure of bees is not expected,” the European Commission said in a statement.

Representatives of EU member states in the EC’s standing committee on plants, animals, food and feed on Friday supported the proposal for a new regulation to be adopted by the EC “in the coming weeks” and applicable “by the end of the year.”

Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EC’s commissioner for health and food safety, hailed the results of Friday’s vote, saying the EC “had proposed these measures months ago, on the basis of the scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority.”

Bee health, he said, “remains of paramount importance for me since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.”

Bayer called the ban “a sad day for farmers and a bad deal for Europe” and said it would not help bees. Many farmers, it said, had no other way of controlling pests and that the result was more spraying and a return to older, less effective chemicals.

The use of neonics in the European Union has been restricted to certain crops since 2013, but environmental groups have called for a total ban and sparked a debate across the continent about the wider use of chemicals in farming.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth described the decision of EU governments a “tremendous victory” for bees and for the environment.

“The European Commission must now focus on developing a strong pollinator initiative that boosts bee-friendly habitat and helps farmers cut pesticide use,” it said.

Both Bayer and Syngenta have challenged the 2013 partial ban at the European Court of Justice. A verdict is due on May 17.

Bayer, in a separate move Thursday, announced it would sell its clothianidin-based seed treatment brands Poncho and VOTiVO to fellow German chemical firm BASF.

The brands are part of a $2.65 billion asset sale to help clear the regulatory path for Bayer’s planned takeover of seed and ag chem firm Monsanto.

In Canada, two of the three neonics in question, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, are up for renewal of their conditional registrations as seed treatments and foliar- and soil-applied pesticides in field crops.

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency in December proposed to renew those registrations to the end of 2019.

For imidacloprid, PMRA in November proposed a three- to five-year phase-out of all agricultural uses and a “majority of other outdoor uses” of the product, citing the chemical’s presence in waterways at levels harmful to aquatic insects.

Final decisions from the PMRA on both proposals are due later this year.

— Reporting for Reuters by Philip Blenkinsop; includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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Meanwhile the department will continue working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California on the impact of the pesticides on pollinators and insects, Health Canada announced Dec. 21.

As for the controversy over their impact on pollinators, Health Canada stands by its earlier conclusion “… that since the introduction of new planting practices for corn and soybeans in 2014, the number of bee death incidents have remained well below the high levels of 2012 and 2013. The number of bee death incidents related to sprayed pesticides also dropped during 2016.”

As for population declines in pollinators, “… no single factor has been identified as the cause,” it said. “The available science suggests that multiple factors acting in combination may be at play, including loss of habitat and food sources, diseases, viruses and pests, and pesticide exposure.”

Health Canada is examining the information collected in an attempt to answer these questions.

Debra Conlon of Grain Farmers of Ontario, said her organization was pleased to see Health Canada appreciate the value of neonic seed treatments and that it “recognizes that there are situations where the use of a neonicotinoid seed treatment would be critical to producing a viable crop.” It also “specifically states that the widespread use of these products is contributing to the low soil insect population and that neonics have replaced other less desirable chemistries.”

The department also acknowledged that bee “incidents” are down and the best management practices Ontario farmers have instituted are working.

“The report says that since the introduction of a dust-reducing fluency agent for treated corn and soybean seeds in 2014, the number of incident reports associated with treated corn and soybean seeds in Canada has declined by 70 to 90 per cent.”

Pierre Petelle, president of CropLife Canada, said the department’s announcement validates what the industry has been saying all along. His organization is still analyzing the details of Health Canada’s announcement made just before Christmas.

“It will have definite impact on the horticulture sector,” Petelle said. “Overall the department is saying it wants to make sure its information on neonics is current but overall pollinators aren’t at risk.”

He said the department’s announcement undercuts the limits imposed by the Ontario government on neonic use. “It shows they got it wrong.”

However, the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association blasted the department’s announcement as a gift to pesticide manufacturers. The decision “goes against overwhelming scientific evidence showing acute and chronic effects on bees, and the experience of Ontario beekeepers whose bees continue to suffer from a decade of overuse of neonicotinoids on soy, corn and winter wheat.”

There are three important neonicotinoids currently approved for agricultural use in Canada, imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam. They have been under review since 2012.

The numbers of bee death incidents reported between 2014 and 2017 during the planting period were between 70 and 92 per cent lower, compared to 2013, Health Canada said.

The Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency “continues to track and investigate bee mortality incidents with the support of the appropriate provincial ministry and plans to complete in 2018 a comprehensive analysis of the incidents that occurred between 2012 and 2016.”

The agency said as a result of comprehensive scientific assessments of the effects of clothianidin and thiamethoxam on bees and other pollinators, they are proposing to phase out some uses of these pesticides.

“We are also proposing to further restrict other uses in cases where the acceptable risk to bees and other pollinators could not be demonstrated,” PMRA wrote. “The PMRA is currently consulting Canadians on these proposed regulatory decisions for 90 days.”

The risk assessment for imidacloprid is being reviewed in light of additional data from the registrant, additional literature that has recently been published, and public comments.

“To date, our assessments of the available data and published literature do not point to unacceptable risks to human health from imidacloprid,” the department said. The PMRA is also looking at the potential for neonicotinoids to affect other parts of the environment including aquatic life such as fish, insects, and other organisms.

An environmental risk assessment of it “had showed that, in aquatic environments in Canada, imidacloprid is being measured at levels that are harmful to aquatic insects. These insects are an important part of the ecosystem, including as a food source for fish, birds and other animals. For the protection of the environment, PMRA proposed to phase out all the agricultural and a majority of other outdoor uses of imidacloprid over three to five years.”

The department received about 46,000 comments on that, which it is still reviewing along with additional data from a variety of sources. A final decision on the acceptability of the continued use of imidacloprid in Canada is expected in late 2018.

Proposed decisions for thiamethoxam and clothianidin will be published in mid-2018. So far, the department says clothianidin and thiamethoxam do not pose risks to pollinators and their use will continue on a restricted basis.

A phase-out of foliar application to orchard trees and strawberries as well as municipal, industrial and residential turf sites would be proposed. Pre-bloom application would be reduced from two to one for cucurbit (cucumbers, squash, etc.) vegetables. There would be additional protective label instructions for cereal crop uses.

Proposed changes to the way thiamethoxam can be used include phase-out of foliar and soil applications to ornamental crops that will result in pollinator exposure as well as on berry crops, cucurbit crops and fruiting vegetables and orchard trees. Foliar application to legumes, outdoor fruiting vegetables, and berry crops would no longer be permitted before or during bloom.

As the result of additional information supplied on clothianidin and thiamethoxam products was required, Health Canada is proposing that these products be granted a three-year registration. The risk-reduction measures proposed in these registrations mirror the risk-reduction measures proposed under the re-evaluation while recognizing the other ongoing regulatory activities associated with these products.

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The University of Guelph team, led by toxicologist Keith Solomon and adjunct professor Gladys Stephenson, analyzed 64 papers from “open, peer-reviewed literature” on the topic plus 170 unpublished studies submitted to regulators by the products’ manufacturers, Syngenta and Bayer.

The scientists, who on Monday published their findings online across five papers in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, said Bayer and Syngenta asked them to assess earlier studies conducted by or for the companies, on the impacts of pesticide-treated seeds on honeybees.

Solomon and Stephenson used a “quantitative weight of evidence” methodology, meant to gauge the quality of reported data and to compare relevance of results from different studies.

The “higher-tier” studies which Solomon and Stephenson examined were focused on the exposures of honeybees to neonicotinoids by way of “several” matrices as measured in the field, and on the effects seen in “experimentally controlled” field studies.

The Guelph team’s study involved Bayer’s clothianidin and imidacloprid and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam, all used in seed treatments for various field crops.

The original papers, Solomon said, varied in quality and “scientific rigour,” but their results generally showed no adverse effects of pesticides on honeybee hives.

For all three products, the “overall weight of evidence,” based on the studies analyzed, indicated “no adverse effects on colony viability or survival of the colony,” the team wrote in the Journal.

“At least for honeybees, these products are not a major concern,” Solomon said in a university release Tuesday — though he granted the three pesticides can kill individual honeybees, and could also pose threats to other pollinators.

That said, “use of these neonics under good agricultural practices does not present a risk to honeybees at the level of the colony.”

“Many studies look at effects of insecticides on individual bees,” he said in a release Tuesday. However, “what regulations try to protect is the colony — the reproductive unit.”

Other researchers, he said, might use the Guelph team’s results to improve studies of pesticide exposure in hives.

The Guelph researchers also stressed the importance of “good agricultural practices” in farmers’ neonic use, including making sure the treated seeds are coated and planted properly to avoid airborne contamination of bees during seeding.

The Guelph team’s results don’t necessarily apply to other insects that also serve as crop pollinators and that have shown population declines, Solomon said.

For those, he said, “there are too few studies at the colony or field level to allow a weight-of-evidence analysis.”

The team said bees and other pollinators are affected by “potentially harmful” factors, including long-distance movement of colonies for crop pollination, as well as mites and viruses, weather, insufficient food and “varying beekeeping practices.” — AGCanada.com Network

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The study, spearheaded by a team from Switzerland’s Universite de Neuchatel and published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, was meant to assess “global exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids.”

The team’s report emphasized the compounds occurred in honey samples “at levels considered safe for human consumption.”

However, the Swiss team wrote, “the contamination confirms the inundation of bees and their environments with these pesticides, despite some recent efforts to decrease their use.”

Of 198 honey samples sourced worldwide through a “citizen science project,” the team found at least one of five tested compounds (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam) in 75 per cent of all samples.

Thirty per cent of all samples contained “a single neonicotinoid,” while 45 per cent of the total samples contained “two or more” neonic compounds; 10 per cent contained “four or five.”

The samples were taken from all continents except Antarctica, as well as from “numerous isolated islands.”

The proportion of samples with trace levels of at least one neonic “varied considerably among regions,” with the highest in samples from North America (86 per cent), Asia (80 per cent) and Europe (79 per cent) samples; the lowest proportion was in South American samples at 57 per cent.

In all regions, at least one neonic was recorded in at least 25 per cent of samples, and three neonicotinoids (thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, clothianidin) were recorded in at least 50 per cent of samples in North America, the team wrote.

Imidacloprid “dominated overall concentrations in Africa and South America,” the team added, while thiacloprid led in Europe, acetamiprid in Asia and thiamethoxam in Oceania and North America, “reflecting regional differences in usage of specific pesticide types.”

“Our results confirm the exposure of bees to neonicotinoids in their food throughout the world,” the team wrote, and “the coexistence of neonicotinoids and other pesticides may increase harm to pollinators.”

The Ottawa-based Canadian arm of environmental group Friends of the Earth viewed the Swiss team’s findings as evidence supporting a “complete and permanent ban” on neonic pesticides.

“Bees collect nectar and pollen from their environment and, like the canary in the coal mine, they provide early warning of toxins. This study points to the urgent need to ban neonics,” John Bennett, senior policy advisor for Friends of the Earth Canada, said in a separate release Thursday.

“We also have the right to know what pesticides are being used where and when — it’s time for Canada to require pesticide use reports.”

Specifically, the group said, pesticide users “should be required to report time and location of use,” which would provide “much-needed information on the cocktail of pesticides encountered by honey bees and wild, native bees.” — AGCanada.com Network

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Citing research led by Lars Straub at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the report says neonicotinoid pesticides were found to cut the lifespan of the drones by a third.

Scientists say the research, which has been published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, offers an explanation for higher rates of honey bee mortality and declining wild pollinators in recent years.

Neonicotinoids have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years and have been banned from use on flowering crops in the EU since 2013.

The researchers exposed drones to the neonicotinoids, thiamethoxam and clothianidin. They found that they had on average 39 per cent less living sperm compared with unexposed bees.

In fact, 32 per cent of the drones were dead at 14 days, which is when they usually reach sexual maturity. By comparison, 17 per cent of unexposed drones were dead before they were mature enough to mate.

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