Talk about brazen.
Despite the mounting evidence that neonicotinoid pesticides are responsible for the dramatic decline in honeybees . . . despite the fact that the European Union, based on the science, declared a two-year moratorium on neonicotinoids . . . despite the fact that beekeepers in Canada are suing Bayer and Syngenta over the destruction of their bee colonies . . . Syngenta wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to let it spray even more of its neonicotinoid pesticide ingredient, thiamethoxam on alfalfa, corn and wheat crops in the U.S.
In a petition filed in August, but not published on the Federal Register until September 5, Syngenta, one of the world’s top three manufacturers of bee-killing pesticides, asked the EPA to pass an increase of 4.9 parts-per-million (ppm) of thiamethoxan. The current legal allowable level is 0.1ppm—Syngenta wants it increased to 5.0ppm.
Syngenta’s thiamethoxan is currently used primarily as a seed treatment. The company wants the EPA to raise the allowed limits so the toxin can be sprayed widely on crop leaves.
Syngenta, along with Bayer and Monsanto, have launched an aggressive public relations campaign that paints the pesticide-makers as “concerned” about the health of bees, and actively working to protect them. The campaign aims to divert attention from neonics and other poisons, to possible other causes of bee population declines, including varro mites and climate change.
We’re not buyin’ it. The OCA has joined 16 other groups in signing a letter to the EPA asking for stricter review of neonics.
Meanwhile, please tell the EPA to reject Syngenta’s request to spray more bee-killing neonics.
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