Tell California officials: Protect our bees and our food system by banning dangerous pesticides!

Bees are dying -- with ripple effects throughout our food system. And bee-killing neonic pesticides are largely to blame.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has the power to eliminate these pesticides. Now, it’s accepting public input on its assessment of bee-killing neonicotinoids. We need you to tell the agency to take action on these pesticides NOW!

Comments

To Whom It May Concern,

I am deeply concerned that the California Department of Pesticide Regulation has released an assessment that shows serious harm by neonicotinoids to non-target organisms, but has yet to remove them from the market. I urge you to listen to your own agency’s assessment based on a strong body of science that increasingly demonstrates unacceptable harm to birds, bees and aquatic organisms.

In August, Governor Brown signed AB 2062 into law. This bill will support native, bee-attractive plantings along roadways and will ensure integrated pest management practices are used. The state is interpreting integrative pest management as not using plants pre-treated or pre-coated with systemic insecticides, including neonicotinoids. This is an important step that the state is taking to reduce neonicotinoids, but it is critical that the state go further and ban all uses.

The European Union recently voted to ban all outdoor uses of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Canada just announced it is phasing out all outdoor uses of neonics by 2021. In June, Costco announced it is updating its pollinator policy to encourage its suppliers to not use neonicotinoids on fruits, vegetables and garden plants. The same month, Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain committed to eliminate neonics on its garden plants by 2020, joining the world’s largest garden retailers, including Walmart, Home Depot, Costco and Lowe’s in making similar commitments. These companies join over 200 entities in the U.S., including the states of Maryland and Connecticut, businesses, cities, and universities that have taken steps to restrict the use of neonicotinoids.

These actions are critical because bees and other pollinators are in serious decline. Beekeepers lost an average of 40 percent of their bees this past year and the U.N. estimates that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinator species are on the brink of extinction.

Research confirms that neonicotinoids pesticides are contributing to this decline. Neonicotinoids kill and harm bees, other pollinators, like butterflies and birds, aquatic species, and beneficial organisms essential to functional ecosystems and food production, including soil microbes, earthworms, and reptiles. The science is clear we must restrict the use of these pesticides to prevent any further environmental destruction and preserve the habitats that are essential to our environment.

I was very happy to see that given recent studies, in the past California responded by announcing it will put a freeze on all new uses of neonicotinoid pesticides in the state. However, it is critical that the state take action and eliminate all current uses of neonicotinoids on the market in the state.

Aside from the impact on critical species and our environment, neonicotinoids may also be having serious impacts on human health. Occupational exposure in humans is reported to be associated with severe heart defects in babies; other consequences of occupational human exposure include tremor and short-term memory loss. Recent studies in Canada suggest that they may act as an estrogen disruptor in women. In animal models, neonicotinoids have been shown to act as neurotoxins, endocrine disruptors and are associated with decreased fertility.

In the face of unsustainable losses for beekeepers, impacts on human health and critical ecosystems, I urge the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to stop dragging its feet and take action to ban neonicotinoids.

Sincerely,

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