One Week to Save our Bees From Syngenta's Toxic Plan!
- by: Mary Elizabeth
- recipient: United States Environmental Protection Agency
In the last ten years alone, the United States has lost more than half its managed honeybee colonies - a rate that the U.S. government says is “unsustainable.” A major culprit in the die-offs is the use of neonic pesticides, a new class of deadly toxins which persist in the environment for decades and, ounce-for-ounce, are 10,000 times more powerful than DDT!
That’s why I was shocked to learn that the EPA, at the behest of mega-corporation Syngenta, is considering a 400% increase of the allowable limits for deadly neonic pesticides in our food crops!
Syngenta, one of the largest manufacturers of neonics, wants permission for open-air spraying of their poisonous neonic thiamethoxam on our alfalfa, barley, corn and wheat – pollen-bearing plants which bees frequent the most!
A review on Syngenta's thiamethoxam by the European Food Safety Authority concluded that the poison poses "a high acute risk to honey bees from (thiamethoxam) exposure via dust drift."
If the EPA approves Syngenta’s deadly request, an unprecedented number of bees will be killed. This could prove catastrophic for our environment, our health, our food supply, and even our economy. But if we work together, we can fight against Syngenta's deep pockets.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed changes until October 6. Signing this petition will send a message to the EPA on your behalf, urging them to put our health above Syngenta’s corporate greed!
For even more impact, I urge you to share this petition with friends, and be sure to post on the U.S. Government’s official comment form on the proposal here.
I am writing to you in regards to Proposed Rule EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0467-0001, PP 3F8205, regarding “Several Pesticide PetitionsFiled for Residues of Pesticide Chemicals in or on Various Commodities.”
I urge you to reject Syngenta’s request to amend the tolerance for residues of the insecticide, thiamethoxam.
Thiamethoxam belongs to the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which are linked to the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the massive disappearance of colonies of honeybees.
A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health replicated a 2012 experiment connecting neonicotinoid exposure to CCD. Though CCD is undoubtedly a complex disorder—one with multiple intersecting causes—this study validates the association between the mass loss of honeybees and their exposure to low levels of neonicotinoid pesticides.
Ounce for ounce, neonicontinoids are 10,000 times more powerful than DDT. When honeybees are exposed to just 5 nanograms of neonics, half of them will die. Neonics have also been shown to persist in the soil for nearly two decades after their use. Indeed, the European Union placed a moratorium on the use of these pesticides for this very reason.
Neonicotinoid pesticides endanger U.S. honeybee populations, which in turn endangers U.S. agricultural production. Honeybees pollinate more than a quarter of the fruit and vegetable crops that we rely on for food. They contribute more than $15 billion annually to the U.S. economy. The importance of pollinators in food production cannot be overemphasized in both economic and environmental contexts. But in the last ten years alone, the United States has lost more than half its managed honeybee colonies - a rate that the U.S. government says is “unsustainable.”
Given this information, allowing increases in thiamethoxam residue is foolish and dangerous. It puts the U.S. food supply and economy at risk. I implore you to block Syngenta’s business-minded request and put the welfare of the United States above that of large corporations.
Please do not allow an increase in the permissible levels of thiamethoxam residue on US crops.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.