UK greenlights pesticides as eco advocates warn bees and food systems will be harmed

23 Jan 2024 --- The UK government has reauthorized the use of the neonicotinoid pesticide Thiamethoxam in the “emergency” event of a virus yellows outbreak among sugar beet crops, vital for the nation’s lucrative sugar industry. Environmentalists argue that pesticides affect food systems by exposing crops, bees, and other pollinators to toxic chemicals and polluting waterways.

“A large proportion of farmers in the UK choose not to use it - which proves that it is not necessary,” Freya Johns, The Wildlife Trust, tells Food Ingredients First. “This neonicotinoid has been banned across the rest of Europe where they do not allow derogations for its use.”

“The UK government’s own Expert Committee on Pesticides has repeatedly advised against authorizing banned pesticides, and now warns that the risks to bees and other pollinators from such a decision outweigh any likely benefits for sugar beet growers.” 

The Wildlife Trusts states that the government’s decision is a short-term solution that undermines the long-term sustainability of the farming sector and puts farmers doing what’s best for food systems at a disadvantage. 

Against the Health and Safety Executive’s advice 
The emergency authorization of the pesticide allows for “seed-coating” of sugar beet crops with neonicotinoids. According to the Wildlife Trust, only 5% of the pesticide reaches the crop through this method, with the rest accumulating in the soil, where it can be absorbed by other vegetation.

“The decision to authorize Thiamethoxam goes against expert advice provided to the UK government by both the Health and Safety Executive and Expert Committee on Pesticides, which stated that the risks were too high and the banned, toxic pesticide should not be used even if the national incidence of Beet Yellows Virus was forecast to be high,” the organization tells us. 

“The government might say that the pesticide is only applied to the seed. However, the pesticide finds its way into soils and from there into rivers.”

The pesticides accumulated in the soil can be absorbed by the wildflowers and hedgerow plants pollinated by bees. Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic pesticides that affect insects’ nervous systems, resulting in paralysis and death. 

The emergency authorization of the pesticide allows for “seed-coating” of sugar beet crops with neonicotinoids.The Wildlife Trust spokesperson cites academic and author professor Dave Goulson, who has written extensively on the subject: “Neurotoxins persist in soils for years, and they are now known to be found in hedgerow plants, streams and ponds.”

“One teaspoon is enough to deliver a lethal dose to 1.25 billion honey bees. But they do not just pose a threat to bees; any insect living on farmland or in streams that flow from farmland, and any organisms that depend on insects for food, many birds and fish, are likely to be affected,” Goulson further states. 

“Recent research found that harmful neonicotinoids have been found in more than 10% of English rivers, despite a widespread ban on these chemicals in 2018. In more than half of the rivers where neonics were detected,” the spokesperson adds. 

The government’s perspective
UK farming minister Mark Spencer has asserted that there is a robust scientific assessment and careful risk evaluation, stating, “We recognize the damaging impact that an outbreak of beet yellow virus could have on farmer livelihoods. We, therefore, regard issuing an emergency authorization as a necessary and proportionate measure.” 

“The product can only be used if a threshold is met, and its use will be strictly controlled. This decision is based on robust scientific assessment, and the risks have been evaluated very carefully,” Spencer continues. 

Responding to Spencer, the organization asserts, “In 2022, The Wildlife Trusts explored possible routes for legal action against the decision. We submitted a legal letter to the UK government that outlined our opposition on the grounds that it went against expert advice and the conditions for emergency authorization were not met.”

“However, by the time a case would have been considered, the neonicotinoid-treated sugar beet seeds would have already been planted, so any legal action would have been deemed academic.” 

 Given the ongoing controversy surrounding neonicotinoid use, the decision could have implications for the broader landscape of pesticide regulation and environmental conservation in the UK. 

UK farming minister Mark Spencer has asserted that there is a robust scientific assessment and careful risk evaluation.“Each year, more research is published on the devastating impacts of neonicotinoids, including the chronic non-lethal effects of these chemicals, which can persist for years in the environment. It is clear that this ‘temporary’ measure will have long-lasting effects on our pollinators, and yet the government continues to authorize it,” the spokesperson further explains. 

“In 2022, almost a third of sugar beet farmers in England chose not to use these toxic pesticides despite an authorization allowing their use, demonstrating that it is entirely possible to produce food in a nature-friendly way. Farmers know that the use of this chemical is not a long-term solution, which begs the question of why regulators continue to permit its use. “

“The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’s decision to repeatedly grant sugar beet farmers permission to use banned pesticides to grow sugar beet is motivated solely to uphold sugar beet yields,” Krysia Woroniecka, sugar and soils project manager at Feedback Global tells Food Ingredients First. “The beneficiary is the monopoly beet refiner, British Sugar, and not the farmers as they are already in contracts with British Sugar and are compensated for yield losses/” 

According to the government’s official statement on the matter, it has recently held a roundtable with the members of the British sugar industry and environmental organizations to discuss the shift away from neonicotinoid use. 

British Sugar committed to developing an alternative to neonicotinoids back in 2020, but according to the Wildlife Trust, “they have failed to develop an alternative within the time frame that they promised.”

By Milana Nikolova