Neonicotinoids: The Toxic Pesticide That’s Killing Bees and Threatening Global Food Security
Scientists say neonicotinoids (“neonics” fo
Around the world, bees and other pollinators are dying off in droves, with potential long-term impacts on ecosystem health and food security.
Scientists are now pointing to a highly toxic and widely used family of pesticides known as neonicotinoids (“neonics” for short) as a primary culprit. Here’s what you need to know.
What are neonicotinoids?
Neonics are a class of synthetic, neurotoxic insecticides that are used on agricultural crops, lawns, gardens, golf courses and in flea and tick pet treatments.
Developed in the mid-1990s, neonics are now the single-most popular insecticide class in the United States.
The way they work is by permanently binding to the nerve cells of insects, overstimulating and destroying them. Exposed insects often exhibit uncontrollable shaking and twitching followed by paralysis before eventually dying.
Even at nonlethal doses, neonics can weaken critical functions, such as an insect’s immune system, navigation, stamina, memory and fertility.
Why are neonicotinoids so bad?
The reason neonics are bad is the same reason they’re used in the first place — to insects, they’re some of the most deadly pesticides ever created.
The problem is that they kill indiscriminately, exterminating not only “pest” insects but also countless butterflies, bees and other wildlife.
In fact, since their introduction, neonics have made U.S. agriculture nearly 50 times more harmful to insect life.
Neonics are considered “systemic” pesticides. This means they can be applied directly to the soil (as a “drench”) around a plant’s roots, or as a coating on a plant seed, which the plant then literally soaks up as it grows.
That makes the plant itself — including its nectar, pollen, leaves, stems and fruit — toxic. What’s worse is that only a small portion of the neonics make it into the target plant, about 2 to 5% for most seed coatings, leaving about 95% in the soil.
Once in the soil, neonics remain active for years, and rain or irrigation water can easily carry them long distances to contaminate new soil, plant life and water supplies.