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Neonicotinoid Pesticides Should be Banned.

Farmers all over the world use pesticides to protect their crops from insects who would
decrease their crop yield. One of the newest pesticide families in use are the neonicotinoid
pesticides. There may be those who praise the use of these new pesticides, but the use of these
new pest control agents by farmers are causing irreparable harm to honeybee colonies and
wildlife that help to pollinate and protect their crops naturally. Due to the these unforeseen illeffects, neonicotinoid pesticides should be banned.
Neonicotinoids pesticides work by infiltrating an insect's nervous system thereby causing
paralysis and the eventually death (Frederick, 2012). Typically the intended target of pesticides
are that of aphids or ground dwelling grubs that destroy crops. However, research has shown
that these new line of pesticides, when sprayed, are one of the leading causes of colony collapse
disorder (CCD) in honeybee colonies (Zimmer, 2012). In fact, due to CCD, almond fields in
California were unable to be completely pollinated and suffered a 30% yield loss (Zimmer,
2012). Understanding that the pesticides affect the nervous systems, scientists believe that they
confuse the bees and hinders them on their return back to the hive(Proctor & Zupic, 2013). One
can infer from this that it would cause the colony to collapse, because if there are no worker bees
to gather nectar then eventually the colony would have to come to a stop. Proctor and Zupic
(2013) also found that it alters the perception of the bee to where the drone crave sweeter nectar.
This means that a worker will travel further from the hive to find nectar, causing the overall
productivity of the colony to plummet which would be a precursor to collapse. Though the
situation of the honeybee may not seem like a world ending catastrophe, taking into account all

the crops that require pollination, you may reconsider.

Bees are not the only member of the ecosystem that are negatively affected by
neonicotinoids. Birds are affected through another common method of utilizing these agents by
treating the seed of the crops when planted (Mineau & Palmer, 2013). According to Mineau and
Palmer (2013), seeds that have been immersed in the pesticides can cause birds to become
sterile, and in low doses can cause partial paralysis and death. Based on this study alone, there
has been a gross negligence of safety and study regarding the allowance of these substances to
be used. Some might say that the loss of a few birds is acceptable compared to the overall
increase in the production and yield of the crops. However being satisfied with the status quo is
selfish and immoral. Under no circumstances should people willingly do harm when there may
be other avenues to be explored.
On the contrary one of the opposing views is that if farmers did not have access to
neonicotinoids, the overall yield of the crops would be substantially less("Can restrictions on,"
2012). Realizing that this is a very serious consequence that could have far reaching
consequences, it warranted a little more research. I arrived upon a study from Italy where
farmers did not use the neonicotinoids that states:
Assessing 180 fields across Italys major maize producing regions, researchers did not
observe any major soil-dwelling pest attacks when using untreated seed. Where soil pests
were present, attack was on less than 10% of sampled maize plants, with no impact on
overall production levels, and less than 3% of the sample fields were affected. These
results are statistically in line with a predicted soil pest damage risk of less than 1%, as
demonstrated by previous Italian research.("Can restrictions on," 2012).
It can be deduced from the evidence that neonicotinoids are not only replaceable, but almost

assuredly not needed.

Whether someone supports the argument to ban neonicotinoid pesticides or not, the fact
is that bee colonies are collapsing, birds are dying, and crops are starting to produce less. These
effects can all be directly attributed to these new pest control agents, and the aforementioned
study has shown that we can produce the same results from crops without them. So why would
we continue to use something with obvious drawbacks, and has the potential to create a
catastrophic snowball effect the could have worldwide repercussions. The simple answer is we
should not. If you agree you would be in good company, because even Albert Einstein is
attributed with saying If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no
more than four years left to live (Delapane, 2009)

Reference Page
Zimmer, C. (2012, March 29). 2 studies point to common pesticide as a culprit in declining bee
colonies. The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/
30/science/neocotinoid-pesticides-play-a-role-in-bees-decline-2-studies-find.html

Proctor, C., & Zupic, D. (2013, March). Capitol hill briefing on neonicotinoids, birds, and bees.
The
Wildlife Society News. Retrieved from
http://news.wildlife.org/featured/capitol-hill-briefing-on-neonicotinoidsbirds-and-bees/
Mineau , P., & Palmer, C. (n.d.). The impact of the nations most widely used insecticides on
birds .
(2013).American Bird Conservancy, Retrieved from
http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/toxins/Neonic_FINAL.pdf
Frederick, F. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service. (2012). Pesticide
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http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi117
Boschma, S. (2013, March 27). It's not just bees: Popular pesticides are killing birds, too. Mother
Nature Network. Retrieved from http://www.mnn.com/earthmatters/animals/stories
/its-not-just-bees-popular-pesticides-are-killing-birds-too
(n.d.). Can restrictions on systemic insecticides help restore bee health?. (2012). Pesticide Action
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