U.S. approval of a DowAgro in-secticide is in doubt after an appeals court said the Environmental Protection Agency failed to study the chemical’s impact on bees.
A panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ruled Sept. 10 that the “EPA’s decision to unconditionally register sulfoxaflor was based on flawed and limited data.”
The court ordered the agency to conduct further studies on sulfoxaflor’s effect on bees and suspended the insecticide’s registration.
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Tibor Szabo, president of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, said the court decision demonstrates that the EPA is not taking the necessary steps to protect bees when it registers chemicals.
“(They) are not up to date on their risk assessment regarding persistent and mobile pesticides,” said Szabo, a beekeeper from Moffat, Ont.
“Finally, a court ordered them to get their act together.”
The EPA registered sulfoxaflor, the first member of a new class of insecticides called sulfoximines, in 2013. The American Honey Producers Association, the American Beekeeping Federation and other groups took the EPA to court over its risk assessment process.
Darren Cox, president of the American Honey Producers Association, attended the court proceedings in San Francisco and said the decision wasn’t a surprise.
“When you’re in a courtroom and you get the overall trend … of how the justices are perceiving (the arguments), I was very optimistic.”
Cox said the court ruling is a reminder to regulators that they have an “obligation to protect our nation’s honeybees from unreasonable adverse affects.”
The government needs to “conduct more research and develop better data for pesticide risk assessment,” he added.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency granted full registration for sulfoxaflor in June. The Dow product is sold under the brand names Isoclast Active, Transform WG and Closer.
The PMRA said the insecticide controls or suppresses aphids, leafhoppers, San Jose scale and lygus bugs on field vegetables, cereal grain, oilseeds, fruit and nut crops.
It didn’t find it to be a threat to bees if used properly.
“While sulfoxaflor is unlikely to pose a risk to bee colonies, it may pose a potential risk to adult foraging bees exposed directly to spray droplets or to fresh residues on plants,” the PMRA said
“However, these effects are relatively short-lived, lasting approximately three days or less. When the risk reduction measures included on the label are followed, risks to bees are considered to be acceptable.”
Szabo said it’s concerning that PMRA scientists would register systemic insecticides without the necessary studies on bees.
“The problem is these are persistent, systemic and mobile types of insecticides…. It’s in the plant, it’s in the nectar, pollen and water,” he said.
“The combination effects and chronic effects are not even looked at…. They’re not looked at from a realistic perspective.”
Cox said it’s unclear what happens next. Dow Agrosciences may appeal the decision to a higher court.
“It’s up in the air. I think the next appeal would have to be the Supreme Court.”
