Debate over risk to bees of fourth pesticide

The insecticide fipronil poses a “high acute risk” to honeybees from pesticide dust when it was used to treat maize seeds, a report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded.

But the agency said it could not establish the impact of drifting dust when using the chemical on other crop seeds such as sunflowers, or whether honey bees were harmed by nectar or pollen from treated crops.

The risk from the use of fipronil on vegetables was considered to be low.

Fipronil is used as an insecticide on a range of agricultural crops and for ant and cockroach control.

The report comes after a previous review by EFSA concluded that three neonicotinoid insecticides should not be used on crops that are attractive to honey bees because they could be exposed to harm through pollen or nectar.

The review into neonicotinoids led the European Commission to go ahead with an EU-wide ban on their use, in the face of opposition from the UK Government and a number of other countries, in order to protect bee health.

The National Farmers’ Union and the Country Land and Business Association have expressed their disappointment over the ban, questioning the reliability of evidence which was based on findings from tests inside laboratories rather than in ‘real life’ conditions.

The two-year ban on their use on plants and cereals that are attractive to bees is set to be in place by December this year.

Following the report by EFSA, Friends of the Earth senior nature campaigner Paul de Zylva said: “Once again, a widely-used chemical that was previously thought safe is found to be risking the health of our bees.

“We need a bee action plan now to address all threats to bees.”