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Neonicotinoids 101: The Effects on Humans and Bees [1]
['Courtney Lindwall']
Date: 2023-06
Why are neonicotinoids so bad?
The reason neonics are bad is the same reason they’re used in the first place—to insects, they’re some of the most deadly pesticides ever created. The problem is that they kill indiscriminately, exterminating not only “pest” insects but also countless butterflies, bees, and other wildlife. In fact, since their introduction, neonics have made U.S. agriculture nearly 50 times more harmful to insect life.
Neonics are considered “systemic” pesticides. This means they can be applied directly to the soil (as a “drench”) around a plant’s roots, or as a coating on a plant seed, which the plant then literally soaks up as it grows. That makes the plant itself—including its nectar, pollen, leaves, stems, and fruit—toxic. What’s worse is that only a small portion of the neonics make it into the target plant, about 2 to 5 percent for most seed coatings, leaving about 95 percent in the soil.
Once in the soil, neonics remain active for years, and rain or irrigation water can easily carry them long distances to contaminate new soil, plant life, and water supplies. Given neonics’ widespread use, the result has been vast ecosystem contamination, which we notice most often in water. A 2015 study by the U.S. Geological Survey found neonic pollution in more than half of the streams it sampled nationwide.
Neonics also harm much of the wildlife they touch. Studies in just the last few years have linked neonics to losses of birds, the collapse of fisheries, and birth defects in white-tailed deer, to name a few.
Despite the threat to our environment, nothing has slowed the widespread application of these insecticides. Neonics are most often used “prophylactically,” which is another way of saying whether they’re needed or not. So the vast majority of neonic applications—covering hundreds of millions of acres—are treating pest problems that don’t exist. When they do, neonics can actually make those pest problems worse for farmers by killing off beneficial bugs and soil microbes that improve crop health, resiliency, and output.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/neonicotinoids-101-effects-humans-and-bees
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