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Common Dreams reports
Agrochemical giants Syngenta and Bayer discovered in their own tests that their pesticides caused severe harm to bees, according to unpublished documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the environmental group Greenpeace.
The companies conducted the trials on products that used the controversial pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, which have long been linked to rapid bee decline. Neonics are also the world's most commonly used pesticide.
According to their own studies, Syngenta's thiamethoxam and Bayer's clothianidin were found to cause severe harm at high levels of use, although the effect was lessened when used under 50 parts per billion (ppb) and 40ppb respectively, the Guardian reports.
However, as Greenpeace notes, the research "assumes a very narrow definition of harm to bee health and ignores wild bees which evidence suggests are more likely to be harmed by neonicotinoids".
That means the findings may "substantially underestimate" the impact of neonics, Greenpeace said.
[...] the studies are not realistic. The bees were not exposed to the neonics that we know are in planting dust, water drunk by bees, and wildflowers wherever neonics are used as seed treatments. This secret evidence highlights the profound weakness of regulatory tests.
Our previous discussions about neonicotinoids.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday October 01 2016, @05:02AM
You're not going to answer my question about whether HFC-134a and Suva 134a are identical, are you?
> DuPont was doing what Greenpeace wanted [...]
A 2007 United Nations report [unep.org] says otherwise:
Greenpeace was a leading participant, advocating the earliest possible phase-out of all ozone depleting substances (ODS). But its biggest contribution to the Protocol came after its ratification, as the world waited to see which refrigerants and blowing agents would replace chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons. It opposed the chemical industry’s proposal to substitute such second generation ozone-depleting and global warming substances as hydrofluorochlorocarbons (HCFCs) or global warming substances such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), being convinced there was a way to avoid them by using cleaner and innovative technology.
Its pursuit of innovation led to the creation of Greenfreeze, which uses environmentally-friendly substances such as hydrocarbons as refrigerants and blowing agents. It found a partner in an East German manufacturer, Foron, which began building the first Greenfreeze prototypes in 1992, and worked behind the scenes to acquire government, scientific, and consumer endorsement for the technology. Greenfreeze was one of the first-ever NGO attempts actively to participate in technology innovation to transform an industry.
To a large extent, this has paid off. The world now has over 200 million Greenfreeze refrigerators: 27 million more are now produced each year, one third of the world’s total production. [...]
> DuPont couldn't unilaterally switch people over, they weren't the sole producers of CFCs
It could have unilaterally stopped making them. It called itself "the leading global supplier of refrigerants" (on its 1970s timeline page); that would have been leadership.
> though let us note that the science behind the Montreal Protocol was pretty flawed so I think anyone could be excused for not taking it as serious as Greenpeace would like
In 1987 the science was flawed how, exactly? Would you say it's still flawed? Your company said this:
Molin[a] and Rowland publish ozone depletion theory in 1974.
The theory suggests that continued use of CFCs could eventually deplete the ozone layer. Although the link to ozone depletion is not firmly established for over a decade, the potential for ozone depletion adds another dimension to refrigerant desirability.
-- https://web.archive.org/web/20060514235408/http://refrigerants.dupont.com/Suva/en_US/about/history/history_1970.html [archive.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday October 01 2016, @11:19AM
You're not going to answer my question about whether HFC-134a and Suva 134a are identical, are you?
I'm not even going to care since I don't think that is remotely relevant to our discussion. Rebranding happens all the time in the real world with or without change in composition of product. Your entire post is typical of the Greenpeace propaganda that always puts business in a bad light even when they do what Greenpeace wants. I'll just note one more thing:
It could have unilaterally stopped making them. It called itself "the leading global supplier of refrigerants" (on its 1970s timeline page); that would have been leadership.
And as a result, DuPont would lose that leadership since customers would continue to go with considerably cheaper options. The Montreal Protocol was necessary to prevent those cheaper options from being on the market.
We also see here a huge reason to hide stuff from Greenpeace and as a result, the public. With viciously adversarial groups like Greenpeace out there, any information becomes a weapon, Cardinal Richelieu-style theater. Better from the business's point of view to force them to waste resources and time rather than just give it on a platter.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday October 01 2016, @02:48PM
> I'm not even going to care since I don't think that is remotely relevant to our discussion.
We were discussing deception and you brought up Du Pont's refrigerants. Those are "two" important ones. Du Pont's publicity said that it introduced HFC-134a in the 1970s, as a less ozone-damaging alternative to CFCs. Du Pont's publicity said that it introduced Suva 134a in 1991, after only four years of development, as a less ozone-damaging alternative to CFCs. Yet the MSDS says they're the same. Hence Du Pont's publicity is very deceptive, or an outright lie.
http://www.fwpipe.com/msds/REFRIGERANT%20-%20DUPONT%20SUVA%20134A%20MSDS.pdf [fwpipe.com]
> Your entire post is typical of the Greenpeace propaganda that always puts business in a bad light even when they do what Greenpeace wants.
The bulk of my previous post was a quote from the UN about how Du Pont did not do what Greenpeace wanted. You chose to ignore that rather than refute it. Greenpeace continue to express their opposition to HCFCs and HFCs, although as you wrote earlier, they mention the greenhouse effect as a reason:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/solutions/greenfreeze/ [greenpeace.org]
> And as a result, DuPont would lose that leadership since customers would continue to go with considerably cheaper options. The Montreal Protocol was necessary to prevent those cheaper options from being on the market.
Other manufacturers would have been at a disadvantage, because Du Pont had the Freon trademark and, until 1979, a patent on making CFCs with a chromium (III) oxide catalyst (https://www.google.com/patents/US3258500 [google.com]). An announcement from Du Pont that it was ceasing production could have stimulated discussion—and further action—while creating good publicity. You seem to value good publicity.
Du Pont could have developed the hydrocarbon refrigerants, such as propane, that Greenpeace have been promoting and helped to develop. Because they can be purified from petroleum and natural gas, and needn't be synthesised, I imagine that they can be made even more cheaply than CFCs. Customers would have welcomed those cheaper options, had they been on the market.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday October 01 2016, @06:39PM
We were discussing deception and you brought up Du Pont's refrigerants. Those are "two" important ones. Du Pont's publicity said that it introduced HFC-134a in the 1970s, as a less ozone-damaging alternative to CFCs. Du Pont's publicity said that it introduced Suva 134a in 1991, after only four years of development, as a less ozone-damaging alternative to CFCs. Yet the MSDS says they're the same. Hence Du Pont's publicity is very deceptive, or an outright lie. Ok, even if they are exactly the same chemically, what are they lying about?
Let's note several things which can be different other than chemical composition of the refrigerant: delivery system, managing a group of refrigerants of which Suva 134a is only one part, inert additives (or ruling out inert additives, if they didn't add anything), and of course, the branding.
Other manufacturers would have been at a disadvantage, because Du Pont had the Freon trademark and, until 1979, a patent on making CFCs with a chromium (III) oxide catalyst (https://www.google.com/patents/US3258500). An announcement from Du Pont that it was ceasing production could have stimulated discussion—and further action—while creating good publicity. You seem to value good publicity.
Needless to say, I don't buy what you're selling. It's very easy to second-guess other peoples' decisions when it doesn't matter how wrong you are.
The bulk of my previous post was a quote from the UN about how Du Pont did not do what Greenpeace wanted.
I already refuted that.
Du Pont could have developed the hydrocarbon refrigerants, such as propane, that Greenpeace have been promoting and helped to develop. Because they can be purified from petroleum and natural gas, and needn't be synthesised, I imagine that they can be made even more cheaply than CFCs. Customers would have welcomed those cheaper options, had they been on the market.
What makes you think they didn't? The obvious problem here is that propane and of course, Greenpeace's Greenfreeze (isobutane) are flammable. I think a key part of Greenfreeze's success was simply that refrigerators no longer leaked refrigerant like they used to (again due in large part to the Montreal Protocol and subsequent regulation which also worked on reducing leakage of refrigerants). This is yet another thing that DuPont doesn't have control over.