New study: U.S. agriculture 48 times more toxic to insects than 25 years ago

Pollinators, like bees, are responsible for one in three bites of food we eat. Insects make up the basis of the food webs and play a critical role in the agricultural production of crops that feed us all.

KENDRA KLEIN: ‘A new peer-reviewed study shows an explosion in the toxicity of U.S. agriculture for insects over the past 25 years since neonicotinoid pesticides were introduced. The study found that U.S. agriculture is 48 times more toxic to insect life, and that neonicotinoids account for 92 percent of the increase in toxicity… The increase in toxic load measured by the study is consistent with recent reports of dramatic declines in beneficial insects and bird populations…

“It is alarming that U.S. agriculture has become so much more toxic to insect life in the past two decades,” said Kendra Klein, Ph.D., study co-author and senior staff scientist at Friends of the Earth. “We need to phase out neonicotinoid pesticides to protect bees and other insects that are critical to biodiversity and the farms that feed us”… A growing body of evidence points to neonicotinoids as a factor in insect declines, along with climate change and habitat destruction, leading some scientists to warn of an “insect apocalypse.”

Insects make up the basis of the food webs that sustain life on Earth and play a critical role in the agricultural production of crops that feed us all. Pollinators, like bees, are responsible for one in three bites of food we eat… Based on the study analysis, the authors assert that existing regulations for the registration of pesticides in the U.S. are not adequate to prevent the introduction of chemicals that can cause catastrophic harm in the environment’. SOURCE…

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