PARIS: The Government has green-lit emergency use of the nicotine-like chemical despite damning findings in its own study and an EU ban
A pesticide which is used to coat oilseed rape seeds is leading to the loss of honey bee colonies, says a Government-backed study.
The use of the pesticides, banned in the EU except in ’emergencies’, has been permitted in four English counties counties.
Up to 10% more deaths were found in 126,220 colonies in England and Wales when comparing high and low exposure to nictotine-like Imidacloprid in 2000-10.
It also found the pesticide had “no consistent effect” on crop yields.
Paul de Zylva, from Friends of the Earth, said: “This blows apart the denials of the pesticides and industrial farming lobby that pesticides are safe for honey bees.
“The scientific evidence is overwhelming that neonicotinoid pesticides harm honey bees and wild bees alike.”
In December 2013, imidacloprid and other neonicotinoid pesticides were banned from general agricultural use by the European Union because of fears that they were harmful to bees.
