EPA Bans pesticide linked to bee deaths

I'm doing a quick hit and run diary with a link to this story since I did a search for a diary on it and didn't find anything. If there is a more substantial diary on this issue please let me know and I'll remove this one...

Article

I found especially interesting the comment at the bottom of the article referring to how this pesticide has been linked to the death of bees.

There is no question that carbofuran exacts a toll on wildlife: A 2006 EPA document examining the pesticide's environmental effects found that if a flock of mallard ducks wandered into an alfalfa field within a week after the chemical was applied, 84 percent of the birds would die. The pesticide also kills bees, which have experienced an unexplained massive population collapse in recent years.

I'm not an expert in either pesticides or the bee collapse disorder but hopefully others that are more educated can contribute some comments...

Here's the link once again...

Article

•  Thanks for the link

  and the bee update.  Appreciated!

  by Unduna on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:29:51 AM PDT

•  Bees rule

  We've got to figure out how to stop poisoning our planet. I also wonder about connections between pesticides and cancer in humans...

  by bethcf4p on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:36:03 AM PDT

•  It isn't the cause, but it's good to get rid

  of it. Researchers did experiments with two hives that had housed affected bees. They took one hive and zapped it with mega doses of radiation capable of scrambling everything including viruses. Then they introduced bees into both hives. The zapped hive didn't have problems, the bees in the other hive did succumb to CCD. Ergo, it's an infective agent.

  by the fan man on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:43:46 AM PDT

  •  I had not heard this

    and am glad if they are making progress to determine the root cause. Reducing other stressors can may also help the bees resist the disease, whatever it is.  

    by Clio2 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 09:29:32 AM PDT

    •  They're currently looking at an intestinal

      disease found in bees used in commercial greenhouses. The article was vague on whether this was the cause or a likely source.

      by the fan man on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 09:40:55 AM PDT

•  interesting

  I have never seen a cogent explanation for the bee die-off. This makes some sense.

  Go Bees!

  by hopeful on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:48:48 AM PDT

•  They are battling carbofuran as well

  in Kenya, where it is implicated in the deaths of all kinds of wildlife. Believe it or not, people actually dump it in shallow areas of Lake Victoria as a method of fishing.

  The bee angle is not so convincing. Not that it isn't lethal to bees, but that it is responsible for the die off. All kinds of ag chemicals in use for a long time now are toxic to bees and can only be safely applied when they are not around.

  by melvin on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:50:52 AM PDT

  •  it's not the cause of CCD.

    by the fan man on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 07:59:28 AM PDT

•  May not be related

  to the colony collapse disorder, but good that it's gone in any event.

  by jfromga on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:10:39 AM PDT

•  Carbofuran is kinda rare in the US.

  It was on its way out, this just speeds things up.

  by RyoCokey on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:15:23 AM PDT

•  Note from history

  I'm glad they banned carbofuran residue on food........but....I'm afraid there might be a repeat of what Reagan did.

  Carter had banned the export of some unsafe pesticide or drug, I forget which......and Reagan lifted the ban.
  Unsafe for use in the USA, but source of profit overseas for American manufacturer.

  Thanks for this diary and link.
  I'm glad to be  a member of NRDC:
  http://www.nrdc.org/

  The Natural Resources Defense Council works to protect wildlife and wild places and to ensure a healthy environment for all life on earth.

  by LNK on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:25:37 AM PDT

•  Thanks for the comments...

  Do you guys have links that rule out this pesticide as part of CCD? Like I said, I'm completely uneducated in this area but would like to read up a little on it

  by EducationforAll on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 08:30:30 AM PDT

  •  I believe this story is a foil to hide

    the fact that the EPA refused to ban endosulfan. This was diaried yesterday. Go to the linked TM article to see that the banning of carbofuran is no big deal, and no mention of bees is made, so it's possible that the bee angle is a lie to make us feel good about banning carbofuran, while the endosulfan issue disappears.

    by Halcyon on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:02:58 AM PDT

    •  Good point...

      Thanks for the link to that diary

      by EducationforAll on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 12:34:52 PM PDT

•  Found this research

  story on the Penn State site from last September:

  ...researchers now report a strong correlation between...CCD and a virus, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IVAP).

  "We have not proven a causal relationship between any infectious agent and CCD," the researchers report...However, they note that the prevalence of IAPV genetic material in bees suffering from CCD, the timing of the outbreaks and the geographical circumstances "indicate that IAPV is a significant marker for CCD."

  This virus reportedly was first identified by scientists at Hebrew University in 2004, who pubished their findings only recently.

  The United States began allowing importation of bees from Australia in 2004, which coincides with early reports of CCD. The same year, IAPV, described by Israeli researchers with symptoms of shivering wings, progressed paralysis and bees dying outside the hive appeared. While CCD does not seem to have the same symptoms, this may reflect a different strain of the virus, co-infection with another pathogen or the presence of other stressors...

  I recommend the whole article if you have time.

  by Clio2 on Fri Jul 25, 2008 at 10:17:03 AM PDT