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'Banned' bee-harming pesticide approved for use, despite expert advice

young codgeryoung codger Posts: 529
in The potting shed
A pesticide which can harm bees has been approved for use in 2022.

Emergency use of a product containing the chemical thiamethoxam has been authorised in England because of a virus which affects sugar beets.

The decision came despite expert advisers finding pollution from the pesticide would damage river life, and requirements for use had not been met.

But Environment Secretary George Eustice said product use would be "limited and controlled".

In 2018, an almost total ban was put in by the EU and UK because of the serious damage the chemical could cause to bees.

Charities and campaign groups are angry at the chemical now being approved for use.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-59995387

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,828
    edited January 2022
    It’s been approved for use only in a particular set of circumstances to guard against severe aphid infestation which spreads the disease known as Virus yellows which ruins sugar beet crops. Farmers don’t want to spend money on expensive pesticides if it’s avoidable. 

    The permission is for treated seed only, not for spraying crops … and of course sugar beet is harvested before it flowers, so should not affect bees and other pollinating insects. 

    The cost of living is shooting up … and although we try to cut down on our sugar intake it is in many foodstuffs … the last thing the UK needs right now is the price of imported sugar going up because of a poor homegrown crop. 




    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • young codgeryoung codger Posts: 529
    I don't know much about the situation, but the experts are saying the chemical would damage river life too.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,051
    the useless shower we have in power don't have the best track record in "listening to experts"
    Devon.
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,393
    edited January 2022
    Dovefromabove said:
    ..............
    The permission is for treated seed only, not for spraying crops … and of course sugar beet is harvested before it flowers, so should not affect bees and other pollinating insects. ...........



    It is not true that  "it should not affect bees and other pollinating insects." Neonicotinoids are very persistent in soils, lasting many years.  I am at present reading Silent Earth by Dave Goulson, a respected expert in this field.  Just yesterday I read that when seed is treated, only 5% of the chemical actually protects the seed, the rest ends up in the soil and water courses where it persists for years. So insects and other invertebrates can and do show their presence years after the neonic insecticide was actually used in a particular place. 

    Neonics are bad, really bad, both now and long term.  They should be completely banned and it is disappointing that governments make exceptions to their use.
     
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 83,828
    It is hoped that with the current series of hard frosts we’re experiencing in East Anglia (where the majority of the UK sugar beet crop is grown) will mean that the threshold for aphid presence  will not be met and the protected seed will not be required. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    The regulation did have caveats to use nics in emergencies.
  • young codgeryoung codger Posts: 529
    I don't know if this article is 'old' news refreshed but the article says from one day ago?
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60579670
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