The French Food and Health Security Agency (ANSES) recalls in a statement, the risks presented by insecticides based on substances of the neonicotinoid family for bees and other pollinators in the context of authorized uses of plant protection products. The agency asks the French government to extend a moratorium on neonicotinoids, these pesticides accused of contributing significantly to the decline of bees for several years, to winter cereals.
Pesticides from the neonicotinoid family were launched about twenty years ago and were seen as a great advancement for the environment because they coated the seeds and thus avoided spraying the crops.
On June 24, 2015, the Agency was contacted by various ministries to assess the risks posed by insecticides based on substances of the neonicotinoid family for bees and other pollinators.
In Europe, there is already a ban on the coating with three neonicotinoids of summer cereal seeds and pollinator attractant crops. The European Commission has decided to suspend 3 pesticides harmful to bees for at least two years from July 1, 2013. This moratorium has been voted by 15 states including France.
However, according to several studies, neonicotinoids attack the nervous system of pollinators, causing a loss of spatial orientation fatal to these insects.
“In the absence of appropriate management measures, the use of neonicotinoids has severe negative effects on bees, which provide ecosystem services including pollination and integrated pest management. They lead in particular to sublethal effects (effects which reduce the ability of a population to maintain equilibrium) when these same species are exposed to low doses of exposure for long periods, ”concludes the Agency.
Bees necessary for public health
Bees work for our health with pollination. Their disappearance would lead to a change in our diet and an increase in heart disease, from stroke (Stroke) and some cancers, but also deficiencies in micronutrients, in particular vitamin A and folate, vital for pregnant women. The toll would be heavy: 1.4 million deaths, an increase in global mortality of 3%, according to the findings of a study published in the journal The Lancet.
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