USDA 'Mite' Summit Could Aid EPA Assesment Of Pesticides' Risks To Bees

摘要

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) summit this week could help inform EPA efforts to determine whether certain pesticides increase the susceptibility of bee colonies to a parasite known as the Varroa mite, a risk that environmentalists cited in a failed effort to persuade EPA to block approval of a new pesticide. EPA registered the active ingredient cyantraniliprole Feb. 5 over environmentalists' objections that the systemic pesticide poses similar risks to bees as the controversial neonicotinoid class, and may also increase the susceptibility of bee colonies to the Varroa mite parasite. Though agency risk assessors utilized an approach similar to that outlined in EPA's draft pollinator risk assessment framework, the agency registered the pesticide after determining, in part, that there was insufficient information to determine that cyantaniliprole further weakened bees to varroa mites.