Experts believe insecticide use may be one of the factors in the decline of bee populations that’s occurring worldwide. One-third of the UK’s bee population has disappeared over the past decade and 24 per cent of Europe’s bumblebees are at risk of extinction.
Neonicotinoids are now the most widely used insecticides in the world, used in 120 countries. They’re favoured because they’re less toxic to vertebrates than many older pesticides. However, there’s growing evidence they can be dangerous to bees, the vital pollinators key to the production of 30 percent of the world’s food.
Neonicotinoids are predominantly used as seed treatments, meaning they remain in the seed as it grows into a plant and are present in the pollen and nectar. Meanwhile, their persistence in soil, their water solubility and dust drift during treatment also mean neonicotinoids are found in nearby plants, grasses and waterways, as well as in the ground.
In a 2014 study1 that assessed the risk of 92 individual compounds to bumble bees and honey bees, three of the eight commercially available neonicotinoids comprised the top five chemicals found to be the highest risk to bees.
So what’s the problem with neonicotinoids?
The dangers of neonicotinoids
Firstly, bees are attracted to these harmful, nicotine-like substances. In the lab, bees offered plain sucrose or sucrose laced with neonicotinoids have chosen the dosed sucrose.
Secondly, while field studies haven’t always corroborated the results and concerns raised by lab testing—and while there’s still debate about whether neonicotinoids directly kill bees—there is a consensus that neonicotinoids can have a negative impact on the health and survival of individual bees and colonies.
In 2018, the EU banned the use of three nicotinoids (thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid) outdoors, although farmers can request limited use exemptions and they can still, controversially, be used in green houses. Other neonicotinoids are yet to be added to the ban. The USA’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a ban on 12 neonicotinoid pesticides that contain these same three neonicotinoids.
Thiamethoxam can cause bees to become hyperactive2 in the short term and impair their motor function, while high doses might also make honeybees more vulnerable3 to a potentially lethal virus called Chronic Bee Paralysis.
Clothianidin impairs a bee colony’s immune response4 and ability to reproduce. It’s a particular threat to queen bees5 and a recent study6 found that bee colonies in clothianidin-treated fields had up to 66% fewer males and up to 74% fewer queen bees. It can also lead to colony collapse disorder7, where most of a colony’s worker bees die out and leave behind a queen, and can make colonies less inclined to remove dead or sick bees from their hives, potentially damaging colony health8 .
At trace dietary levels, Imidacloprid has been shown to reduce expected performance in honey bees by between 6 and 20% in a meta-analysis of research9, while a 2012 study shows that bumble bee colonies exposed to field-realistic levels had a significantly reduced growth rate and suffered an 85% reduction in production of new queens10.
If you don’t want to endorse the use of these neonicotinoids, you can ensure your buying behaviours support producers that don’t use these harmful chemicals. Below are seven key crops commonly treated with noenicitinoids together with the sometimes surprising products in which they’re found.
Corn
It’s estimated that one quarter of the items found in a grocery store contain some form of corn (perhaps as xanthan gum, polyols, fructose or ethanol) and today, the majority of corn is used for non-food purposes.
Corn is used to produce ethanol (used in products like hand sanitiser) and is also present in some plastics, batteries, carpets and textiles. Corn starch is a common ingredient in many medications, foods, and cosmetic and hygiene items, including deodorants and nappies, while corn syrup is used in the production of hard sweets and yogurts.
Plenty of corn is grown in the EU–France is the 9th biggest grower of corn in the world—so ensure your corn products are from EU sources or made from organic corn.
Sugar Beets
The main use of sugar beets is for producing sugar, alcoholic beverages and syrups, but the pulp is used in animal feed and molasses is another useful by-product. France, Germany, Poland and the UK are the EU countries in the top 10 biggest sugar beet producers in the world. Russia and US are the two biggest producers outside the EU.
Sugar beets are challenging to farm organically and most organic sugar comes from sugar cane, so EU sources are best if you want sugar beets grown without the blacklisted neonicotinoids.
Cotton
Cotton is not only a major constituent of most clothing and textiles, from t-shirts to towels, but is also used in coffee filters, food, cosmetics, cattle feed, oil, rubber and plastics.
Currently, cotton is produced only in three EU countries: Greece, with 80% of the EU’s cotton-growing area, followed by Spain (with a share of 20%. Bulgaria produces less than 1% of the EU’s cotton on less than 1,000 ha. Cotton is also grown organically in India, Turkey and China, and parts of the USA; ensure you check labelling carefully to make sure cotton from these countries is certified organic.
Soybeans (also known as soya beans)
Soybeans are used to produce soy flour, protein, milk and sauce, plus, tempeh, tofu, soybean oil and soya isoflavones, a nutritional supplement. Soy is already grown in many parts of Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece and several CEE countries, so look out for soy products produced with beans grown in these areas. The US is gradually increasing its production of organic soy.
Sorghum
Sorghum is a popular cereal crop that can be used as a gluten-free grain in bakery products and as a livestock feed and pet food, but it can also be turned into ethanol, alcoholic beverages, syrups, biofuels, building material, fencing, floral arrangements and brooms.
It’s grown in dozens of countries around the world, including the EU countries of Italy, France, Spain, Romania, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Greece, and Croatia. The biggest producer is the US and some of their crop is grown organically.
Wine Grapes
Spain, Italy and France are the big producers of organic wine grapes within the EU, while outside, Australia is steadily increasing its production and Argentina, Chile and New Zealand are among the countries producing some of their wines from organic grapes.
The demand for organic wines is on the increase–Waitrose reported a 57% rise in their organic sales in 2018—so there are likely to be increasing opportunities to choose organic wines. Grapes are of course also used in the production of dried fruit and jams, jellies and juices too. Finding these products in organic/key-neonicotinoid-free versions can be more of a challenge, so check that the product and its ingredients are either from within the EU or certified organic.
Canola (also known as edible rapeseed)
Canola is a form of rapeseed developed to be edible in Canada (not by genetic engineering, as some people have been led to believe, but by selective breeding). It’s used predominantly for the production of oil, spreads, livestock feed, fertiliser and biofuels. Within the EU, the top producers of canola are France and Germany; outside the EU, Canada is by far the biggest supplier, and the US, Australia, South Africa, India and China all produce significant quantities. If you’re buying canola products from outside the EU, ensure it’s certified organic. Both the US and Canada produce significant amounts of organic canola oil.
While the EU and EPA bans on most uses of three key neonicotinoids is encouraging, there remain five other neonicotinoids still widely used across the world, including in Europe and the US. The only way to guarantee the products you buy and consume are from completely neonicotinoid-free crops remains the same: choose certified organic products.
- https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0094482
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15308-6
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048357517301633
- https://www.pnas.org/content/110/46/18466
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/neonicotinoid-pesticides-slowly-killing-bees
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07914-3
- https://www.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/colony-collapse-disorder
- https://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6345/1395
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10646-010-0566-0
- https://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6079/351