Novichok for bees: the impact of neonicotinoids on UK wildlife

Dr. Emily Lambert and Dr Ana Attlee, conservation scientists and founders of expert wildflower company, Seedball, is collaborating with The Wildlife Trusts to increase awareness about the harmful impacts of neonicotinoids on wildlife, especially bee populations.

For the fourth year running, the UK government has approved the ‘emergency’ use of bee-harming pesticide, thiamethoxam, a type of banned neonicotinoid in the EU. This decision comes in the wake of the European Court of Justice's ruling last year, which deemed such pesticides, along with others detrimental to wildlife, as unlawful. Notably, this move contrasts with the UK government's stance at the 2022 COP15 summit in Montreal, where it advocated for global pesticide reduction.

Neonicotinoids came onto the market in 1994 and have become the most widely used insecticides across the globe, outside of Europe. There are several variants, including imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin and acetamiprid, all of which are synthetic variations of nicotine. In 2018, the UK and EU banned the use of three neonicotinoids, including thiamethoxam, for outdoor agricultural applications due to the deadly impact it had on bees.

Neonicotinoids are neurotoxins which kill all arthropods at tiny doses. For example, the dose needed of imidacloprid to kill 50% of honeybees is 4 billionths of a gram, meaning that just 1 teaspoon is enough to wipe out around 1.25 billion bees – neonicotinoids are often described as ‘Novichok for bees’ because of the deadly consequences they have on them. Even miniscule doses of the approved thiamethoxam, can result in impaired learning, decreased navigational ability, lowered resistance to disease and reduced fertility – in any dose, and in any case, neonicotinoids are harmful and destructive to bee populations and wider wildlife.

The UK government states that emergency applications should not be granted more than once to protect wildlife but has recently renewed the permittance of use for a fourth year. Ignoring the advice of its own expert committee that cited potential impacts on mature honeybees, other vital pollinators, and aquatic creatures as reasons that the application should be rejected.

The impacts of neonicotinoids stretch even further than the demise of honeybees, with other serious environmental concerns over their use.

Neonicotinoids remain persistent in the soil and continue to accumulate over time. They dissolve in water and often wash away from soil and into rivers and waterways and are often detected in water samples at unsafe levels. Being systemic, they are also found in nectar and pollen of treated crops, leading to further exposure and impact on insects, with concentrations high enough to impact colony reproduction in bumblebees. Additionally, even non-target crops like wildflowers and hedgerows are impacted, as their roots pick up the chemicals, leading to further impact and exposure to wildlife.

The levels of neonicotinoids found in different places, like soil, water, and plants, are often way higher than what's needed to kill pests, and they can harm helpful bugs too. Although birds are less affected, eating seeds treated with these pesticides during planting can still make them sick or even kill them.

Seedball has teamed up with The Wildlife Trusts to encourage the public to act and safeguard British wildlife through the ‘Say No to Neonics’ petition. With the Wildlife Trusts declaring the fourth annual approval of neonics a ‘deathblow’ for wildlife and a betrayal of farmers who strive to produce food sustainably.

To find out more and to sign the petition, visit the Wildlife Trusts website: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/say-no-neonics more information about Seedball can be found at www.seedball.co.uk

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Editors notes

Seedball was founded by two conservation scientists wanting to boost biodiversity and help wildlife.

Seedball Ltd is an innovative organisation on a mission to help increase the abundance of British wildflowers and the wildlife that depends upon them.

Owned by Project Maya – a non-profit enterprise - Seedball manufactures wildflower seed balls using a unique innovation of wildflower seeds mixed with clay, peat-free compost and chilli powder to naturally protect seeds from predators. Its products are sold in over 500 stores in the UK, including Kew Gardens, The Woodland Trust and Blue Diamond Garden Centres, as well as online retailers such as Crocus and Marie Curie. Each year, Seedball also donates products to hundreds of schools and community groups to help support their nature projects.