David Adams writes:
> How many years has Neonicotinoids been in use?

No one debates that imidacloprid is toxic to bees, yet Bayer, the exclusive patent holder from 1988 until this year, denies its product causes CCD. California beekeeper Eric Lane said he can trace the origin of Colony Collapse Disorder to 2003, the year imidacloprid was approved for use in his state. Dr. Jerry Hayes: "The proper course of action would be to get the scientific data that proves this, submit the scientific data to the EPA and then they would have no choice but to pull the products."

As a nation, we disperse about 1.2 billion pounds of pesticide active ingredient into the environment each year. This is over 4 pounds of active ingredient for every man, woman and child. The active ingredient is usually a small part (1-5%) of the entire pesticide formulation, which includes other chemicals such as synergists, propellants and so-called "inert ingredients". Many inerts also have toxic characteristics, but the identity of inerts in a given product is considered "proprietary information" and so not listed on the pesticide label.

Home and garden applications account for more pesticide use on a per acre basis than agriculture. In the United States, non-farmers use over 163 million pounds of pesticide active ingredient, spending over $2.1 billion per year.

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L