Bayer on defensive in bee deaths
Bayer has a rather interesting corporate history; they can take credit for mass HIV infection scandals, Zyklon B, methadone, and heroin of all things. What will they think of next?
Sabine Vollmer, newsobserver.com
September 9, 2008
German authorities look into allegation that RTP maker’s pesticide harms environment
Bayer CropScience is facing scrutiny because of the effect one of its best-selling pesticides has had on honeybees.
A German prosecutor is investigating Werner Wenning, Bayer’s chairman, and Friedrich Berschauer, the head of Bayer CropScience, after critics alleged that they knowingly polluted the environment.
The investigation was triggered by an Aug. 13 complaint filed by German beekeepers and consumer protection advocates, a Coalition against Bayer Dangers spokesman, Philipp Mimkes, said Monday.
The complaint is part of efforts by groups on both sides of the Atlantic to determine how much Bayer CropScience knows about the part that clothianidin may have played in the death of millions of honeybees.
Bayer CropScience, which has its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, said field studies have shown that bees’ exposure to the pesticide is minimal or nonexistent if the chemical is used properly.
Clothianidin and related pesticides generated about $1 billion of Bayer CropScience’s $8.6 billion in global sales last year. The coalition is demanding that the company withdraw all of the pesticides.
“We’re suspecting that Bayer submitted flawed studies to play down the risks of pesticide residues in treated plants,” said Harro Schultze, the coalition’s attorney.
“Bayer’s … management has to be called to account, since the risks … have now been known for more than 10 years.”
Under German law, a criminal investigation could lead to a search of Bayer offices, Mimkes said.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Natural Resources Defense Council is pressing for research information on clothianidin.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the pesticide in 2003 under the condition that Bayer submit additional data. A lawsuit, which the environmental group filed Aug. 19 in federal court in Washington, accuses the EPA of hiding the honeybee data.
The group thinks the data might show what role chlothianidine played in the loss of millions of U.S. honeybee colonies.
Researchers have been puzzled by what is causing the bees to disappear at what is considered an alarming rate.
The phenomenon, known as colony collapse disorder, threatens a $15 billion portion of the U.S. food supply.
In the U.S. diet, about one in three mouthfuls comes from crops that bees pollinate.
Scientists are looking at viruses, parasites and stresses that might compromise bees’ immune system. In the past two years, Congress has earmarked about $20 million to boost research.
Clothianidin, sold under the brand name Poncho, is used to coat corn, sugar beet and sorghum seeds and protect them from pests. A nerve toxin that has the potential to be toxic for bees, it gets into all parts of the plant that grows from the coated seeds.
In 1999, French regulators banned an older relative of Poncho and subsequently declined approval for clothianidin. French researchers found that bees were a lot more sensitive to the pesticides than Bayer CropScience studies had shown.
Three months ago, German regulators suspended sales of chlothianidine and related chemicals after the family of pesticides was blamed for the destruction of more than 11,000 bee colonies.
The Julius Kühn Institute, a state-run crop research institute in Germany, collected samples of dead honeybees and determined that clothianidin caused the deaths.
Bayer CropScience blamed defective seed corn batches.
The company said that the coating came off as the seeds were sown, which allowed unusually high amounts of toxic dust to spread to adjacent areas where bees collected pollen and nectar.
Bayer paid about $3 million in damages, Mimkes said.
Source | See Also: Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Radiation touted to protect meat | GM crops could lead to ‘disaster’: Prince Charles | Small Farmers Pushed to Plant GM Seed | American thinktanks sowed seeds of food crisis | Agribusiness positions GM crops as panacea to predicted global food shortage | Monsanto Plans to Save World with its Biotech Crops | Billions needed annually to raise food production: UN chief | Food crisis grips Afghanistan | Victims of Factor 8 Blood Scandal Still Caught in ‘Waiting Game’ | High-level UN task force to tackle global food crisis | Farmers to kill off 150,000 pigs | Scientist who claimed GM crops could solve Third World hunger admits he got it wrong |
October 6th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Are we already dining on clones? | [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Are we already dining on clones? | [...]
January 28th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
February 16th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:17 pm
[...] crisis must not stop climate change action | Mobile phones to track carbon footprint using GPS | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Bilderberg-connected Desmarais dynasty thinktank supports [...]
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:11 am
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
October 28th, 2009 at 11:36 am
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:10 pm
[...] [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 pm
[...] [...]
November 19th, 2009 at 6:15 am
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:27 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
March 5th, 2010 at 11:51 am
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
May 10th, 2010 at 3:04 am
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]
June 6th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
[...] Fluoride in Water Supply Harms Thyroid Function | Raw milk fans rally at court for dairy farmer | Bayer on defensive in bee deaths | Hunger in Africa blamed on western rejection of GM food | Shun meat, says UN climate chief | Are [...]