sulfoxaflor: Trump administration to approve pesticide that may harm bees
Source: The Guardian
Trump administration to approve pesticide that may harm bees
EPA said studies it considered, most of which were sponsored by industry, found sulfoxaflor isn’t dangerous for the pollinators
Emily Holden in Washington
Fri 12 Jul 2019 19.07 BST Last modified on Fri 12 Jul 2019 19.48 BST
The Trump administration is approving the pesticide sulfoxaflor – thought by some experts to harm bees – for use on a wide variety of crops.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the studies it considered, most of which were sponsored by industry, found the chemical is not dangerous for the pollinators responsible for $15bn in US crops each year.
Beekeepers in the US lost 40% of their colonies in the past year, raising concerns about the effects of pesticides.
But an EPA official, who the agency asked not be named, told reporters that the studies “show that sulfoxaflor disappears from the environment more quickly than widely-used registered alternatives, thereby lowering risks to bees”.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/12/bees-pesticide-trump-epa-approves-sulfoxaflor
