http://action.panna.org/t/5185/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=668

PAN ALERT: Honey Bees Need Your Help

Every third bite of food we take is produced with honey bee help. They pollinate a third of our food, but bee colonies are collapsing, and their populations are plummeting because of parasites and pesticide exposures.

Take Action Now! Tell EPA to protect honey bees from a toxic pesticide.

The pesticide imidacloprid is highly toxic to honey bees. Despite EPA’s recognition of this fact, the agency approved imidacloprid’s use in 1994. France banned several uses of imidacloprid in 1999 over concerns about its effects on bees, but here in the United States imidacloprid is still used heavily on many crops pollinated by honey bees, including broccoli, blueberries, carrots, grapefruit, cucumbers and avocados.

EPA is currently undergoing a mandatory review of its approval of imidacloprid, but the agency's work plan lacks crucial details on how it will assess risks to bees, and this review isn’t scheduled to be complete until 2014. In the meantime, high-risk uses of imidacloprid will continue to threaten honey bees.

EPA is accepting public comments on this phase of the project through March 17th.

Please email now! Tell EPA to protect honey bees that feed us all.

Join PAN and NRDC in urging EPA to act decisively and quickly to protect honey bees and other pollinators from high-risk uses of imidacloprid. By signing below, you’ll encourage the agency to strengthen its plans for risk, toxicity and exposure assessments.

Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0844

Dear Office of Pesticide Programs staff,

I urge the EPA to conduct a thorough registration review of the pesticide imidacloprid that properly assesses risks to honey bees and other pollinators.

The EPA must require the manufacturer to submit multi-generational studies of chronic toxicity looking not only at the impact of imidacloprid exposure on adult bees, but also at its effects on bee brood development and survival. Your agency also must incorporate into its risk assessment information concerning imidacloprid levels in the pollen and nectar of plants that receive systemic imidacloprid treatment as well as in hive materials. This information is needed to determine the extent of bees' exposure to this pesticide.

Finally, I urge the EPA to speed up its schedule for the registration review and cancel any uses of imidacloprid that are found to pose high risks to bees and other pollinators. Our food security depends greatly on pollinators such as honey bees. The EPA therefore should ensure that these beneficial insects are protected from high-risk uses of toxic pesticides.

http://action.panna.org/t/5185/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=668