Health Canada said as much Thursday as it released its final re-evaluation decisions for three neonic pesticides — re-evaluations dealing specifically with the products’ potential impacts on bees and other pollinators.

The department’s assessments of the three neonics — clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam — show “varying effects on bees and other pollinators from exposure to each of these pesticides.”

For those reasons, Health Canada said, its final decision calls for outright cancellation of some uses of the three neonics, mainly affecting the horticulture and tree fruit sectors.

For some other uses, the department plans to change conditions of use, such as “restricting the timing of application” and adding new “label statements” for uses such as cereal seed treatments.

Uses such as canola seed treatments and on greenhouse vegetables “are not expected to pose unacceptable risks to bees and other pollinators,” the agency said Thursday.

Crop protection industry group CropLife Canada hailed much of Health Canada’s announcement Thursday, saying it “affirm(s) the safety of neonics as a seed treatment and for many other uses.”

The department’s decision “confirms that in the vast majority of cases, neonics can be used effectively by farmers without unnecessary risk to pollinators,” CropLife CEO Pierre Petelle said in a statement via email.

Grain Farmers of Ontario CEO Barry Senft, in a separate statement, noted growers in that province “take several steps to protect pollinators on their farms and (Health Canada’s) decision shows that these efforts are working, as is the regulatory system that works to protect human health and the environment.”

Health Canada has been re-evaluating the three neonics since 2012 to” address growing concerns around bee health” and issued proposed decisions for clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam in December 2017, May 2018 and December 2017, respectively.

Neonic seed treatments, Petelle said, “represent an incredible innovation that has improved agricultural sustainability and limited exposure to non-target organisms due to the very precise application of the product on the seed.”

However, he warned, the planned new restrictions and cancellations Health Canada announced Thursday will leave many growers, particularly in the hort sector, “severely impacted.”

In many cases, he said, for those growers, “there are no viable alternatives… to control certain insect pests and removing neonics for growing certain horticulture crops like apples and cherries may jeopardize the viability of certain types of fruit and vegetable production in Canada.”

The decisions

For clothianidin, Health Canada’s final pollinator decision will cancel foliar application on orchard trees and strawberries and on municipal, industrial and residential turf sites. It also limits the number of foliar applications on cucurbit vegetables to one per season.

Also, “additional label statements” will be required for clothianidin seed treatment of cereal crops.

For imidacloprid, the final pollinator decision will cancel foliar application to pome fruit, stone fruit, certain tree nuts with “high pollinator attractiveness,” lavender and rosemary. It will also cancel soil application on legume, fruiting, and cucurbit vegetables when grown outdoors; herbs harvested after bloom; small fruit and berries (caneberry; bushberry; low-growing berry; berry and small fruit vine excluding grapes); and ornamentals that are “attractive to pollinators and planted outside.”

The department would also prohibit foliar spraying of imidacloprid before or during bloom on fruiting vegetables, herbs that are harvested after bloom, legume vegetables (broad beans, fava beans andVicia faba), berry crops (with renovation after harvest for woody berries), and tree nuts apart from those with high pollinator attractiveness.

Also, additional label statements will be required for imidacloprid seed treatment of cereal and legume crops.

For thiamethoxam, Health Canada proposes to cancel foliar and soil application on ornamental crops “that will result in pollinator exposure” — in other words, crops that are planted outdoors and attractive to pollinators. It will also cancel soil application for berry crops, cucurbit crops and fruiting vegetables, and foliar application to orchard trees.

Health Canada will also prohibit spraying of thiamethoxam before or during bloom in foliar application on legume and outdoor fruiting vegetables, and on berry crops, with “renovation required” for woody berries. Foliar application on sweet potato and potato would not be allowed during bloom.

Also, “additional label statements” for thiamethoxam will be required for seed treatments of cereal and legume crops.

Risks ‘not imminent’

Health Canada proposes to put all the above risk mitigation measures in place over a 24-month period. “The risks identified (to pollinators) are not considered imminent because they are not expected to cause irreversible harm over this period,” the department said.

Members of the public have 60 days from the final decisions’ publication date to file any notices of objection, Health Canada said.

The department also noted Thursday it already put risk mitigation measures in place in 2014 to help protect bees and other pollinators from exposure to neonic-laden dust kicked up during planting of treated seeds.

With the risk mitigation measures in place from 2014 onward, Health Canada said Thursday, the number of bee incidents in 2014, 2015 and 2016 were 70-80 per cent lower than in 2013. Further decline was seen in the number of incidents reported during planting in 2017 and 2018.

Health Canada on Thursday also granted that “other factors” such as favourable weather conditions might have also contributed to the reduction in bee “incidents” and bee deaths in the crop years since 2014.

Phase-outs still proposed

All this said, the agency’s final pollinator re-evaluation decisions have no bearing on Health Canada’s separate ongoing evaluations of the “potential risks to aquatic insects” from the use of neonics.

Final decisions on those evaluations are expected at the end of this year, Health Canada said Thursday — but the department also reiterated that current research shows neonics are “detected frequently in waterbodies at levels that could be harmful to certain aquatic organisms.”

Health Canada in 2016 proposed a phase-out of most uses of imidacloprid over three to five years after a routine re-evaluation by its Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) found imidacloprid showing up at levels harmful to certain aquatic insect populations such as mayflies and midges — a “critical food source” for fish, birds and other animals.

Special reviews for both clothianidin and thiamethoxam were announced in the wake of those findings on imidacloprid. Those reviews, released last summer, found both pesticides being measured at levels harmful to aquatic insects.

As a result, Health Canada also proposed last summer to cancel all outdoor (that is, non-greenhouse) agricultural and turf uses for clothianidin, and all outdoor agricultural and ornamental uses for thiamethoxam, over three to five years, depending on availability of alternatives.

In Canada, clothianidin is marketed by Bayer as insecticides and seed treatments under brand names including Poncho, Prosper, Titan and Sepresto and by Nufarm as NipsIt.

Thiamethoxam products include Cruiser and Helix, marketed by Syngenta, while imidacloprid is sold mainly by Bayer under brands such as Admire, Gaucho, Concept and Intercept. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The ban, championed by environmental activists, covers the use of three active substances — imidacloprid, developed by Bayer CropScience; clothianidin, developed by Takeda Chemical Industries and Bayer CropScience; and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam.

“All outdoor uses will be banned and the neonicotinoids in question will only be allowed in permanent greenhouses where exposure of bees is not expected,” the European Commission said in a statement.

Representatives of EU member states in the EC’s standing committee on plants, animals, food and feed on Friday supported the proposal for a new regulation to be adopted by the EC “in the coming weeks” and applicable “by the end of the year.”

Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EC’s commissioner for health and food safety, hailed the results of Friday’s vote, saying the EC “had proposed these measures months ago, on the basis of the scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority.”

Bee health, he said, “remains of paramount importance for me since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment.”

Bayer called the ban “a sad day for farmers and a bad deal for Europe” and said it would not help bees. Many farmers, it said, had no other way of controlling pests and that the result was more spraying and a return to older, less effective chemicals.

The use of neonics in the European Union has been restricted to certain crops since 2013, but environmental groups have called for a total ban and sparked a debate across the continent about the wider use of chemicals in farming.

Campaign group Friends of the Earth described the decision of EU governments a “tremendous victory” for bees and for the environment.

“The European Commission must now focus on developing a strong pollinator initiative that boosts bee-friendly habitat and helps farmers cut pesticide use,” it said.

Both Bayer and Syngenta have challenged the 2013 partial ban at the European Court of Justice. A verdict is due on May 17.

Bayer, in a separate move Thursday, announced it would sell its clothianidin-based seed treatment brands Poncho and VOTiVO to fellow German chemical firm BASF.

The brands are part of a $2.65 billion asset sale to help clear the regulatory path for Bayer’s planned takeover of seed and ag chem firm Monsanto.

In Canada, two of the three neonics in question, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, are up for renewal of their conditional registrations as seed treatments and foliar- and soil-applied pesticides in field crops.

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency in December proposed to renew those registrations to the end of 2019.

For imidacloprid, PMRA in November proposed a three- to five-year phase-out of all agricultural uses and a “majority of other outdoor uses” of the product, citing the chemical’s presence in waterways at levels harmful to aquatic insects.

Final decisions from the PMRA on both proposals are due later this year.

— Reporting for Reuters by Philip Blenkinsop; includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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The Pest Management Regulatory Agency on Tuesday issued proposed decisions on clothianidin and thiamethoxam that would extend the products’ existing conditional registrations as seed treatments and foliar- and soil-applied pesticides in field crops, to the end of 2019.

Clothianidin, under its current conditional registration, is marketed in Canada as insecticides and seed treatments under brand names including Poncho, Prosper, Nipsit, Titan and Sepresto. Thiamethoxam’s conditional registration covers products such as Cruiser and Helix.

The agency’s proposed decision stems from the re-evaluations of neonic pesticides it announced in 2012, with an eye on the chemicals’ “potential risk to pollinators in light of international updates to the pollinator risk assessment framework.”

PMRA on Tuesday also announced proposed re-evaluation decisions for clothianidin and thiamethoxam based on its pollinator risk assessments.

For clothianidin, the proposed pollinator re-evaluation calls for the phase-out of its foliar application to orchard trees and strawberries and to municipal, industrial and residential turf sites. It also proposes to reduce pre-bloom applications for cucurbit vegetables (cucumbers, squash, et cetera) from two down to one.

The re-evaluation also calls for added “protective label instructions” for cereal crop uses of clothianidin.

For thiamethoxam, the proposed pollinator re-evaluation calls for the phase-out of foliar and soil applications to ornamental crops that would result in pollinator exposure; of soil application to berry crops, cucurbit crops and fruiting vegetables; and of foliar application to orchard trees.

Foliar application of thiamethoxam to legumes, outdoor fruiting vegetables and berry crops would no longer be permitted before or during bloom, PMRA said.

PMRA’s proposals are now up for a 90-day public comment period, running to March 19, 2018. The agency’s final decisions on the products are due to be published in late 2018.

Recent separate assessments of a third neonic, imidacloprid, found it to be turning up in waterways at levels harmful to aquatic insects, leading PMRA to propose a three- to five-year phase-out of all agricultural uses and a “majority of other outdoor uses” of the product.

The proposal for imidacloprid went through a 120-day public comment period ending in March this year, to be followed by a final PMRA decision on the use of imidacloprid in Canada late next year. PMRA said it also expects to publish a proposed decision on imidacloprid pollinator safety in March 2018.

Clothianidin and thiamethoxam have also been found to occur “frequently and at comparable levels to imidacloprid” in certain waterbodies in areas of intensive agriculture, PMRA said Tuesday.

Consultation is expected in July on proposed measures for clothianidin and thiamethoxam to protect aquatic life. Final decisions on such measures are expected to follow in January 2020.

“Decade of overuse”

The Ontario Beekeepers’ Association on Thursday ripped PMRA’s proposal to continue registration for clothianidin and thiamethoxam “against overwhelming scientific evidence showing acute and chronic effects on bees.”

PMRA’s decision, OBA said, also flies in the face of “the experience of Ontario beekeepers whose bees continue to suffer from a decade of overuse of neonicotinoids on soy, corn and winter wheat.”

Noting PMRA’s plans to call for new labelling on field crop seed treatments, related to reducing dust at planting, OBA said dust from planters represents “less than five per cent of the pesticide applied to seed.”

By focusing its attention to crop dust, OBA said, PMRA “perpetuates the myth that neonicotinoids could be safe for bees if applied properly at planting time.”

Ontario in 2015 moved to limit access to neonic-treated seed only to farmers “who can demonstrate they need protection from the pests targeted” by the products in question, OBA noted.

“Ontario beekeepers are hopeful that Ontario’s Class 12 legislation will allow farmers access to crop protection in a way that also protects our vital insect pollinators,” OBA president Jim Coneybeare said in the association’s release Thursday.

“The only group that could possibly benefit from PMRA’s decision are the manufacturers of these pesticides.” — AGCanada.com Network

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The University of Guelph team, led by toxicologist Keith Solomon and adjunct professor Gladys Stephenson, analyzed 64 papers from “open, peer-reviewed literature” on the topic plus 170 unpublished studies submitted to regulators by the products’ manufacturers, Syngenta and Bayer.

The scientists, who on Monday published their findings online across five papers in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, said Bayer and Syngenta asked them to assess earlier studies conducted by or for the companies, on the impacts of pesticide-treated seeds on honeybees.

Solomon and Stephenson used a “quantitative weight of evidence” methodology, meant to gauge the quality of reported data and to compare relevance of results from different studies.

The “higher-tier” studies which Solomon and Stephenson examined were focused on the exposures of honeybees to neonicotinoids by way of “several” matrices as measured in the field, and on the effects seen in “experimentally controlled” field studies.

The Guelph team’s study involved Bayer’s clothianidin and imidacloprid and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam, all used in seed treatments for various field crops.

The original papers, Solomon said, varied in quality and “scientific rigour,” but their results generally showed no adverse effects of pesticides on honeybee hives.

For all three products, the “overall weight of evidence,” based on the studies analyzed, indicated “no adverse effects on colony viability or survival of the colony,” the team wrote in the Journal.

“At least for honeybees, these products are not a major concern,” Solomon said in a university release Tuesday — though he granted the three pesticides can kill individual honeybees, and could also pose threats to other pollinators.

That said, “use of these neonics under good agricultural practices does not present a risk to honeybees at the level of the colony.”

“Many studies look at effects of insecticides on individual bees,” he said in a release Tuesday. However, “what regulations try to protect is the colony — the reproductive unit.”

Other researchers, he said, might use the Guelph team’s results to improve studies of pesticide exposure in hives.

The Guelph researchers also stressed the importance of “good agricultural practices” in farmers’ neonic use, including making sure the treated seeds are coated and planted properly to avoid airborne contamination of bees during seeding.

The Guelph team’s results don’t necessarily apply to other insects that also serve as crop pollinators and that have shown population declines, Solomon said.

For those, he said, “there are too few studies at the colony or field level to allow a weight-of-evidence analysis.”

The team said bees and other pollinators are affected by “potentially harmful” factors, including long-distance movement of colonies for crop pollination, as well as mites and viruses, weather, insufficient food and “varying beekeeping practices.” — AGCanada.com Network

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“Studies on the risks of neonicotinoids have often focused on bees that have been experiencing population declines. However, it is not just bees that are being affected by these insecticides,” said Christy Morrissey, U of S biology professor.

Research led by Margaret Eng, a post doctoral fellow in Morrissey’s lab, is the first study to show that imidacloprid (neonicotinoid) and chlorpyrifos (organophosphate) —two of the most widely used insecticides worldwide—are directly toxic to seed-eating songbirds. The paper, published in Scientific Reports, shows these chemicals can directly affect songbird migration.

“These chemicals are having a strong impact on songbirds. We are seeing significant weight loss and the birds’ migratory orientation being significantly altered,” said Eng, who also worked with colleagues from York University. “Effects were seen from eating the equivalent of just three to four imidacloprid treated canola seeds or eight chlorpyrifos granules a day for three days.”

Neonicotinoids have become the most popular class of insecticides among farmers because they are very successful at killing pests and are easy to apply.

“In the past farmers might have placed an insecticide into a crop duster and would spray their fields with the insecticide. However, now farmers have access to seeds that in many cases are already coated with neonicotinoids,” said Morrissey. “Birds that stop on migration are potentially eating these seeds, but can also mistakenly ingest the chlorpyrifos pellets for grit, something they normally eat to aid in the digestion of seeds.”

During a spring migration, Eng and Morrissey captured sparrows, which were then fed daily for three days with either a low or high dose of imidacloprid or chlorpyrifos. Lab experiments showed that the neonicotinoids changed not only the birds’ migratory orientation, but the birds also lost up to 25 per cent of their fat stores and body mass, both of which are detrimental to how a bird successfully migrates.

“What surprised us was how sensitive and rapid the effects were, particularly to imidacloprid,” said Morrissey. “The birds showed a significant loss of body mass and signs of acute poisoning (lethargy and loss of appetite). The migration trials also showed that birds completely failed to orient or changed their northward orientation.”

Research took place at the U of S Facility for Applied Avian Research (FAAR), a facility devoted to ecotoxicology and avian health. The $2.3 million facility opened in May 2016 and FAAR is the only resource of its type in Western Canada.

“We were encouraged that most birds survived, and could recover following the cessation of dosing,” said Eng. “But the effects we saw were severe enough that the birds would likely experience migratory delays or changes in their flight routes that could reduce their chance of survival, or cause a missed breeding opportunity.”

Morrissey said that this research “could have major implications for regulation decisions of these pesticides. Imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos are highly controversial for their safety to the environment or to humans and a decision on a proposed imidacloprid ban in Canada is being considered, with the federal government expected to make a decision on imidacloprid and its use in Canada sometime in December.”

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The study, spearheaded by a team from Switzerland’s Universite de Neuchatel and published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, was meant to assess “global exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoids.”

The team’s report emphasized the compounds occurred in honey samples “at levels considered safe for human consumption.”

However, the Swiss team wrote, “the contamination confirms the inundation of bees and their environments with these pesticides, despite some recent efforts to decrease their use.”

Of 198 honey samples sourced worldwide through a “citizen science project,” the team found at least one of five tested compounds (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam) in 75 per cent of all samples.

Thirty per cent of all samples contained “a single neonicotinoid,” while 45 per cent of the total samples contained “two or more” neonic compounds; 10 per cent contained “four or five.”

The samples were taken from all continents except Antarctica, as well as from “numerous isolated islands.”

The proportion of samples with trace levels of at least one neonic “varied considerably among regions,” with the highest in samples from North America (86 per cent), Asia (80 per cent) and Europe (79 per cent) samples; the lowest proportion was in South American samples at 57 per cent.

In all regions, at least one neonic was recorded in at least 25 per cent of samples, and three neonicotinoids (thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, clothianidin) were recorded in at least 50 per cent of samples in North America, the team wrote.

Imidacloprid “dominated overall concentrations in Africa and South America,” the team added, while thiacloprid led in Europe, acetamiprid in Asia and thiamethoxam in Oceania and North America, “reflecting regional differences in usage of specific pesticide types.”

“Our results confirm the exposure of bees to neonicotinoids in their food throughout the world,” the team wrote, and “the coexistence of neonicotinoids and other pesticides may increase harm to pollinators.”

The Ottawa-based Canadian arm of environmental group Friends of the Earth viewed the Swiss team’s findings as evidence supporting a “complete and permanent ban” on neonic pesticides.

“Bees collect nectar and pollen from their environment and, like the canary in the coal mine, they provide early warning of toxins. This study points to the urgent need to ban neonics,” John Bennett, senior policy advisor for Friends of the Earth Canada, said in a separate release Thursday.

“We also have the right to know what pesticides are being used where and when — it’s time for Canada to require pesticide use reports.”

Specifically, the group said, pesticide users “should be required to report time and location of use,” which would provide “much-needed information on the cocktail of pesticides encountered by honey bees and wild, native bees.” — AGCanada.com Network

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Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) on Wednesday announced it had completed a re-evaluation of the pesticide and has kicked off a 90-day public consultation period, from now until Feb. 21, on its proposed phase-out for the product.

For agricultural use, imidacloprid is marketed in Canada in seed treatments — such as Bayer’s Admire, Gaucho and Stress Shield and Adama’s Alias and Sombrero — and in other crop and greenhouse insecticides such as Bayer’s Concept, Intercept, Genesis and Merit and Cheminova’s Grapple. Off-farm, it’s also approved for use in various flea and lice treatments for dogs and cats.

PMRA’s assessment proposes the current use of imidacloprid “is not sustainable.” The product is being found in waterways and aquatic environments at levels harmful to aquatic insects such as mayflies and midges, which in turn are “important food sources for fish, birds and other animals,” the agency said.

Health Canada “is taking the findings of the re-evaluation of this pesticide seriously, and is taking action to further protect the environment,” Health Minister Jane Philpott said Wednesday in a release.

PMRA’s proposal calls for “any required changes to the use-pattern” for imidacloprid to take place within three years.

However, for uses where no “suitable alternative products” are yet available, a phase-out period of up to five years from the date of the PMRA’s final decision “may be considered.”

The phase-out would apply to all outdoor agricultural, ornamental, turf and tree uses (except tree injection uses) and greenhouse uses of imidacloprid.

Farmers and “other stakeholders” are to be consulted “to consider the availability of suitable alternatives,” the agency said.

The agency’s risk assessment found exposure to imidacloprid from spray drift and from runoff “may result in toxic effects to aquatic insects,” based on environmental modelling and Canadian water monitoring information. The product isn’t expected to pose a direct risk to fish, amphibians, algae or aquatic plants.

Environmental monitoring from “areas of intense agricultural activity” in Ontario and Quebec supported those findings, the agency said. Imidacloprid had been detected “frequently” in surface water at levels “well above concentrations that may result in toxic effects to insects.”

The regions in question included areas of both outdoor farm use, such as in potato and vegetable crops, and greenhouse use. The risks to freshwater insects couldn’t be attributed to a specific crop or application method, PMRA said.

The current continued use of the product isn’t sustainable, the agency said, because despite the precautionary label statements on all product labels to reduce the potential for runoff risk, and despite label restrictions against the release of imidacloprid from greenhouses into surface waters, the higher levels are still found in surface waters near areas where the product is in agricultural use.

“Robust” monitoring data isn’t available for all regions in Canada, the agency said, but “given the chemical properties of imidacloprid, it is anticipated that elevated levels may be found in many agricultural areas where there is a high volume of use.”

Thus, PMRA said, it can’t exclude any particular crop from its proposed risk management plan, “based on the available information.”

Also, the agency said, the available monitoring data “likely provide an underestimate of actual exposure, as sampling typically does not capture peak concentrations.”

Imidacloprid levels in surface water have been found to range from “non-detectable” up to as high as 11.9 parts per billion “in some rare cases,” Health Canada said. Evidence indicates levels above 0.041 parts per billion “are a concern.”

Other options that would see imidacloprid’s use curbed, but not eliminated, for the same risk-management result “would be difficult to achieve,” the agency said.

It would be tough to identify specific uses that caused elevated levels in water, PMRA said, because much of the water monitoring data came from “mixed-use” farming areas.

Also, the agency said, it’s “not possible to accurately predict how much use reduction would be necessary to achieve acceptable levels of imidacloprid in the environment and, therefore, any use-reduction strategy would require extensive and comprehensive water monitoring information to confirm that risk reduction targets are being achieved. It is also not possible to estimate how long a reduction in environmental levels would take.”

Also, in sectors where imidacloprid is “approved for use but not currently used extensively,” later intensified use “may lead to additional risks of concern.”

The agency acknowledged that for a few crops imidacloprid is the only approved insecticide for specific pests, and it has value as a seed treatment due to the “limited number” of registered seed treatments to manage the same pest and site combinations.

However, the agency noted, new insecticides have been submitted for approval and could serve as replacements in some cases, and label uses could possibly be expanded in other currently registered products.

That said, some of the alternatives “may have cost implications, be less effective against specific pests, or be under re-evaluation themselves,” PMRA said.

During the public comment period, and a planned “multi-stakeholder forum” expected to be held next month, PMRA said it would welcome any proposals for “potential alternative mitigation strategies that would achieve the same outcomes in a similar timeframe.”

However, the agency warned, any proposals that would allow imidacloprid’s continued registration would have to “clearly demonstrate concrete actions that would ensure that levels of imidacloprid in water would be reduced below the level of concern.”

The findings on imidacloprid have now also led the agency to launch “special reviews” for two other widely used neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam — looking specifically at the risks to aquatic invertebrates.

Both of the other neonics “are also being detected frequently in aquatic environments,” Health Canada said Wednesday.

The proposed phase-out for imidacloprid doesn’t relate to Health Canada’s still-ongoing evaluation of the neonic class of pesticides relating to the risk to bees and other pollinators.

Health Canada noted its re-evaluation efforts on the potential risks to pollinators have so far reduced the environmental risks of neonicotinoids.

For example, the department said, since it introduced mandatory “mitigation measures” on treated corn and soybean seed in 2014, the number of incidents reported at planting time has “decreased by up to 80 per cent.”

Ontario last year became the first jurisdiction in North America to limit use of seed treated with neonics. Quebec in 2015 announced plans for similar curbs. — AGCanada.com Network

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Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday released their preliminary assessments, both of which show some situations where imidacloprid — one of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides — poses risk to pollinators.

Imidacloprid is marketed in Canada in seed treatments — such as Bayer’s Admire, Gaucho and Stress Shield and Adama’s Alias and Sombrero — and in other insecticides such as Bayer’s Concept and Cheminova’s Grapple.

“No potential risk to bees was indicated for seed treatment use,” PMRA said in its preliminary assessment, which will be released in its full version with appendices on Jan. 18 for a 60-day public comment period.

Past that, “additional data is expected” this year on imidacloprid’s effects on pollinators, to be available well ahead of PMRA’s final pollinator risk assessment, due out sometime in December.

Residue levels in crop pollen and nectar from imidacloprid seed treatments are “typically below levels expected to pose a risk to bees at both the individual bee and colony levels,” the agency said.

Exposure via dust kicked up during planting of treated seed was also considered, the agency said, noting new risk-reduction rules were put in place in 2014 for planting of corn and soybean seed treated with neonics.

“Dust generation is related to multiple factors including the planting equipment and seed types, and at this time planting of other seed types in Canada is not associated with dust generation or harm to pollinators.”

For some soil treatments, meanwhile, PMRA said a “potential risk to bees was identified” with imidacloprid, noting higher application rates and timing closer to blooming “appears to result in higher residue levels.” Also, crops grown in coarser soils “tended to have higher residues than those grown in medium or fine soils.”

No potential risk from soil treatment was identified for crops such as melon, pumpkin and blueberry, and “minimal risk is expected for bee-attractive crops in other registered crop groups” such as legumes and herbs, PMRA said. Also, the products’ current label “adequately minimizes risk for use on turf.”

However, “potential risk was identified (in soil treatments) for tomato and strawberry with certain application rates and soil types.” Overall, PMRA said, field studies for soil treatment applications, expected to be done this year, “will help further inform the pollinator risk assessment.”

In foliar applications of imidacloprid, meanwhile, the potental risk “varies with application timing,” the agency said, noting current label restrictions help cut down that risk.

Specifically, PMRA said, foliar applications made during bloom “are expected to pose a risk to bees” but those products’ current labels “prohibit or reduce application during bloom for most bee-attractive crops.”

Residue information for pre-bloom applications was only available on crops not grown in Canada, PMRA said, but also noted pre-bloom applications are already prohibited for some uses, such as in orchard crops that are “highly attractive” to bees.

Post-bloom foliar applications to farm crops harvested at the end of the season “are not expected to pose a risk to bees, as pollen and nectar are no longer available for forage.”

Citrus, cotton

The U.S. EPA and California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, in a joint preliminary study, found imidacloprid “potentially poses risk to hives when the pesticide comes in contact with certain crops that attract pollinators.”

EPA data show citrus and cotton “may have residues of the pesticide in pollen and nectar above the threshold level” of 25 parts per billion, above which effects on pollinator hives were likely to be seen.

Other crops such as corn and leafy vegetables “either do not produce nectar or have residues below the EPA-identified level,” the U.S. agency said.

Like PMRA, the EPA noted “additional data is being generated on these and other crops to help EPA evaluate whether imidacloprid poses a risk to hives.” The EPA’s assessment also now goes to a 60-day public comment period.

Both PMRA and the EPA plan to run similar risk assessments this year on the other neonicotinoids, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.

The two agencies’ preliminary risk assessments for those products are due out in December this year, with final risk assessments to follow in December 2017. (The EPA will also assess another neonicotinoid, dinotefuran, in the same time frame.)

The EPA last year proposed to prohibit use of the neonics, and other pesticides considered toxic to bees, when crops are in bloom and bees are under contract for pollination services. The EPA has also temporarily halted approvals for new outdoor neonic uses until its pollinator risk assessments are complete.

In Canada, where use of neonic seed treatments in corn and soybeans is now restricted in Ontario and new limits are planned in Quebec, imidacloprid has “very little reported use” on corn or soybean seed.

Value assessment

Use of the two other neonics, thiamethoxam and clothianidin, has been widespread on corn and soybean seed in Canada. In 2013, “virtually all” field corn planted in Canada had been treated with one of the two, and over half of Canada’s soybean seed that year was treated with thiamethoxam, PMRA said.

PMRA’s related preliminary value assessment for corn seed treatment, also released Wednesday, suggests a national economic benefit for the corn industry of about $74.2 to $83.3 million, or about 3.2 to 3.6 per cent of the national farm gate value for corn, in 2013.

Neonic seed treatments on soybeans yielded an estimated economic benefit of about 1.5 to 2.1 per cent of the crop’s national farm gate value for 2013, or about $37.3 million to $51 million, the agency said.

In both corn and soybeans, PMRA said, those economic benefits appeared to accrue mostly in Ontario and Manitoba. In Quebec, for both corn and soybeans, growers’ expenses on treated seeds were “estimated to exceed the yield returns.”

PMRA’s preliminary value assessment is also now up for a 60-day public comment period. The agency said it’s now “seeking additional information to finalize the value assessment for both the corn and soybean seed treatments’ uses.” — AGCanada.com Network

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The provincial government made its move Monday — three days ahead of a scheduled meeting between Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal and Grain Farmers of Ontario chairman Mark Brock, at which the GFO, representing corn, soy and wheat growers, expected to discuss the group’s own proposals for neonic use and protecting pollinators such as bees.

The province’s draft regulation, which follows a series of consultations over the winter, is available for public comment on the environmental registry until May 7 and, if approved as written, would take effect July 1.

The regulations would see neonic-treated corn and soybean seeds — which today aren’t regulated under the provincial Pesticides Act — moved into a new pesticide class, Class 12, covering seeds treated with imidacloprid, thiamethoxam or clothianidin.

The regulation would also require training on integrated pest management (IPM) methods for any farmer or anyone else supervising planting of neonic-treated corn or soybeans.

Assessments, licensing

An IPM course, in both classroom and online formats, is expected to be available this fall and throughout the winter into next spring, the province said. A farmer who successfully completes the course would get a certification number, valid for five years.

The course is meant to “promote the use of different methods to prevent and reduce the risk of pests and encourage beneficial insects,” and would also cover identification of pests, pest scouting methods and “alternative methods” to pesticides.

For the 2016 growing season the regulation proposes a “voluntary approach” allowing the purchase and use of neonic-treated seed on up to 50 per cent of acres planted to corn or soybeans, if a written declaration is made.

A “pest assessment” — identifying pest problems above pre-determinded thresholds — would need to be completed for planting neonic-treated seed beyond that level. Farmers would be able to perform a soil pest assessment in 2015 ahead of the 2016 growing season.

Past the 2016 season, a farmer wanting to order neonicotinoid-treated seeds would need IPM training and a pest assessment, to be done by an independent professional pest advisor, showing a pest infestation. Assessments would have to be submitted to the Agriculture Ministry.

On the sales side, the regulation calls for the 20 seed companies now selling neonic-treated seed in Ontario to obtain a new “treated seed vendors licence,” and would allow sales only to people with IPM training or to other licensed treated-seed vendors.

Licensed vendors would be required to notify purchasers if the seed they’re buying is neonic-treated seed, to make sure untreated seed is available for purchase, and to report sales of both neonic-treated and untreated seeds to the provincial Environment Ministry.

“Balanced and practical”

The province said its regulations are expected to help protect pollinators, ensure a “productive agricultural sector,” and serve as a step toward a “pollinator health action plan” focused on “key stressors” such as pesticides; loss of habitat and nutrition; climate change and weather; and diseases, pests and genetics.

Leal, in the province’s release Monday, said the move marks “the next phase of our comprehensive pollinator health strategy, based on the advice of agricultural leaders.”

The regulation, he said, is “a balanced and practical way forward that would ensure farmers have access to treated seeds when needed.” Neither the GFO nor the Ontario Beekeepers Association have yet publicly responded to Monday’s announcement.

The province said it now sees “widespread use of neonicotinoid-coated seeds, in some cases, without evidence of pest problems” noting over 99 per cent of corn seed and 60 per cent of soybean seed sold in the province is treated with neonics.

The province has said its target to reduce the number of acres planted with neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed by 80 per cent by 2017.

In the winter of 2013-14, the province said, bee deaths in Ontario reached 58 per cent, well above beekeepers’ “generally accepted” level of 15 per cent.

Pollinators, the province added, are responsible for pollinating about 13 per cent of Ontario’s farm crops and support $26 million per year in honey production.

During the province’s last round of consultations, “we heard overwhelmingly that the people of Ontario support immediate action to protect our food sources and the environment from the effects of neurotoxic neonicotinoids,” Environment Minister Glen Murray said in the same release.

The regulation, he said, “will contribute to reducing a major stressor on pollinators and other vulnerable species.” — AGCanada.com Network

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