Let's help Palm Beach inform residents about toxic insecticides
Dead monarch caterpillars after being sprayed with pesticides.
October 8, 2023
Neonicotinoid insecticides (“neonics”) were introduced in the 1990s and are now the most widely used insecticides in North America.
Although these insecticides are banned in many parts of Europe, it is difficult to find any crop plants in the United States that do not contain neonics, as these are used to coat seeds before planting. In a 2013 report that announced the astounding loss of 3 billion birds in North America since 1970, the American Bird Conservancy found many neonicotinoid insecticides, notably the most widely used varieties of imidicloprid and acetamiprid, to be potentially lethal to birds.
Neonics were also predicted to impact aquatic systems upon which birds depend for food. Contamination levels discovered in surface and groundwater in the United States and around the world were strikingly high, and well beyond the threshold found to kill aquatic invertebrates. However, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, using scientifically unsound and outdated methodology, greatly underrated these risks. Given these findings, the recommendations from the conservancy and its partners in the National Pesticide Reform Coalition urged the EPA to:
· “Suspend all applications of neonicotinoids pending independent review of these products’ effects on birds, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.
· Expand its re-registration review of neonicotinoids beyond bees to include birds, aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.
· Ban the use of neonicotinoids as seed treatments.
· Require that registrants of acutely toxic pesticides develop the tools necessary to diagnose poisoned birds and other wildlife.”
This was in 2013. Now, after a decade of inaction, neonicotinoids are still widely used on crops in North America. In Palm Beach, imidacloprid is the most commonly used pesticide by homeowners whose landscapers say this is essential to save their ficus hedges from whitefly inundation. In reality, most whitefly populations have built up resistance to this chemical so it is no longer efficient.
New toxicity studies carried out over the last decade also have reinforced the high danger of imidacloprid and acetamiprid to birds, bees and pollinators. The 2023 report “Neonicotinoid insecticides: Failing to come to grip with a predictable environmental disaster,” states clearly that neonicotinoids are being used at a scale not seen since the introduction of DDT, yet with little to no regulation by the EPA.
It has become increasingly apparent that our government agencies cannot or will not perform their mandate to protect citizens’ inherent rights to clean air, water and soil. We must take this initiative upon ourselves and eliminate or at least reduce the amount of chemicals we use on our own landscapes.
When a group of concerned citizens asked that the use of neonicotinoid pesticides and the herbicide glyphosate be regulated or at least monitored in the town, they were told that government in Tallahassee did not consider this to be within the town’s jurisdiction. How is that even possible?
It is striking that none of the new science has alleviated alarms of major impacts to birds, pollinators, and to humans. Regulators are not regulating; they do not accurately weigh the costs and benefits of this class of insecticides. Let’s assist our Town Council in leading the way by informing our residents of the dangers of these toxic chemicals and demanding that they are no longer used on our fragile barrier island.
-Kim Frisbie
Original article on the Palm Beach Daily News is HERE.