UK Grants Emergency Use of Pesticide Known to be Toxic to Bees to Boost Sugar Beet Production

A bee-killing pesticide, thiamethoxam, can now be used by sugar beet farmers in England to protect their crop from the beet yellows virus that is expected to reach a 68% level in incidence after a mild winter. We hope the UK hasn’t made a catastrophically bad decision.

Thiamethoxam is a common neonicotinoid insecticide and was banned by the European Union in 2013 due to its harmful effects on bees, which are important to our ecosystem and are currently being threatened in a variety of ways.

These are facts, as spelled out by the European Commission:

• Neonicotinoids literally means “new nicotine-like insecticides.” These insecticides are chemically the same as nicotine.
• Neonicotinoids are systemic pesticides that are absorbed by the plant and taken to its every part, like leaves, stems, roots, flowers, nectar, and pollen.
• Neonicotinoids affect an insect’s central nervous system, which results in paralysis and death.

In a 2017 study, thiamethoxam was specifically pointed out as a neonicotinoid insecticide that impacts a honey bee’s motor functions, activity, and movement toward light.

After Brexit, there was an expectation from conservationists that the UK would continue to uphold programs that protect the environment, along with threatened fauna and flora species, including the bees.

In July 2021, the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) even urged the public to join in caring for the bees as the UK celebrated Bees’ Needs Week, which aims to raise awareness about these amazing pollinators. Bees pollinate more than 70% of the food crops that provide nourishment to humankind.

However, six months later, DEFRA granted the sugar beet industry emergency authorization to use thiamethoxam-containing Cruiser SB.

Various conservationist organizations lambasted the decision.

“The approval to use this bee-killing pesticide is scandalous,” said Craig Bennett, chief executive officer of The Wildlife Trusts. “The government has outlined ambitions to restore nature and reverse declines of precious wildlife. But at the same time, it is giving a green light to use a highly toxic chemical that could harm pollinating insects and pollute soils and rivers.”

DEFRA defends its position by saying that “the decision to approve an emergency authorisation was not taken lightly and was based on robust scientific assessment.”

But, according to the Chief Scientific Advisor’s advice on the use of Cruiser SB for sugar beets in 2021, which remains pertinent for this year, “Environmental damage of neonicotinoid use is clear, and the evidence is increasing. Keeping neonicotinoid use to an absolute minimum will continue to be critical to support population recovery of bees and other species.”

Many bee species, particularly bees in the wild, are now threatened by habitat loss, global warming, nutrition deficiency, and toxic chemicals.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has already warned the world that decreasing bee populations pose a serious threat to food security and nutrition.

Written by Doris De Luna