Trump relaxes regulations - beekeepers sue
Beekeepers are taking the Trump administration to court over its decision to relax regulations on the use of insecticides. In particular, it is about the chemical sulfoxaflor.
Beekeepers are suing the Trump administration over its decision to allow wider use of an insecticide linked to the deaths of entire honeybee colonies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lifted restrictions on sulfoxaflor in July and approved a number of new uses for the chemical.
According to the environmental organisation Earthjustice, when honey bees return to their hives with pollen and nectar contaminated with sulfoxaflor, the effect on an entire colony can be catastrophic.
The chemical can kill adult bees at low doses. It also interferes with the colony's ability to reproduce and fight disease when returned to the hive.
The plaintiffs' attorney, Greg Loarie, argues that the EPA's decision is contrary to U.S. federal law. Honey bees and other pollinators are dying in droves due to the use of sulfoxaflor. The EPA's decision is illegal and a violation of the American food system, the economy and the environment.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of honeybee hives has declined from six million in the 1940s to about 2.5 million today. Last year alone, beekeepers in the USA lost four out of every ten honeybee colonies.
A study from 2018 found that sulfoximine-based treatments reduced both the overall size of bumblebee colonies and the number of male offspring they produced.
Researchers at Royal Holloway University of London found that in colonies exposed to sulfoxaflor - the first sulfoximine-based insecticide - the number of sexual offspring produced decreased by more than half.
Researchers at Royal Holloway University of London found that in colonies exposed to sulfoxaflor - the first sulfoximine-based insecticide - the number of sexual offspring produced decreased by more than half.
Sulfoxaflor has been approved by the EU as an active substance since 18 August 2015. Plant protection products containing sulfoxaflor have been authorised in some EU member states, including in Austria since July 2018 in a preparation against aphids in cereal crops. In Switzerland, no plant protection products containing sulfoxaflor are (yet) authorised.
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