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European agency concludes controversial 'neonic' pesticides threaten bees
Controversial insecticides known as neonicotinoids pose a danger to wild bees and managed honey bees, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy, said in a report released today. Bayer, a maker of so-called neonics, disputed EFSA's findings. But the report is likely to give a boost to those pushing for tighter European regulation of the chemicals.
"This report certainly strengthens the case for further restrictions on neonicotinoid use," entomologist Dave Goulson of the University of Sussex in Brighton, U.K., said in a statement. The European Commission last year proposed—but has not yet adopted—extending a partial ban on neonics to all field crops.
Related: Landmark Study: Honeybee Queens Severely Affected by Neonicotinoid Pesticides
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday March 04 2018, @09:54AM (6 children)
Was the testing unsubstantiated or was it inconclusive? Are you certain there's a difference?.
And what by the way constitutes substantiated testing?
Where does one go to have their testing substantiated?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @02:24PM (4 children)
Substantiation can be done in house, if the "researcher" prefers to do it. That may or may not be adequate to satisfy academic authority, or whoever might be interested in the substantiation. In this case, no one checked the results - there was a rush to get to market, so the early favorable results were accepted. Those results were then forwarded to gubbermint, where the results were accepted again.
If you are interested in Bayer's study, you can get the PDF here - https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/bees_guelph.pdf [wordpress.com] It's nine pages of reading.
If, on the other hand, you would like to read an evaluation of that study, as well as the EPA's handling of it, this is a good read: https://grist.org/article/food-2010-12-10-leaked-documents-show-epa-allowed-bee-toxic-pesticide/ [grist.org] That evaluation is all on one web "page", but it's about half as long a read as the PDF.
So, in effect, there was no control group, or test group of bees. Bayer populated an area with canola crops, some treated, and some untreated, then populated that same area with several bee hives. For there to have been a test group, and a control group of bees, the two groups should have been separated by AT LEAST six miles distance - and preferably more.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 04 2018, @04:45PM
WTF are you talking about? The purpose of the study was to show there was no difference!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday March 04 2018, @07:37PM (2 children)
So bees in both groups died at record levels?
There's nothing here about substantiation, or what that actually means.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 04 2018, @08:59PM (1 child)
That was my original point - the supposed safety of the product was never established, let alone substantiated. The EPA's own scientists disputed the purported findings of this "study". The whole thing just falls flat on it's face. Bayer pulled a fast one, and the head of the EPA let them do it.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday March 04 2018, @09:24PM
My father used his binoculars to look at a Soviet ship as it passed his ship. He saw a Soviet sailor looking back at him through binoculars too.
Dad put down his binocs, smiled and waved
Thee Free Worlds sworn enemy put down his own binoculars, looked furtively to each side, then stepped into a doorway then...
... smiled and waved back
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Tuesday March 06 2018, @02:17AM
I imagine it's as simple as hiring an unbiased 3rd party with a reputation in agriculture, and coordinating with bee-ologists in the regions you're planning on marketing the stuff in.
Whoops! But that would make sense, so I'm clearly not an MBA who would be placed in charge of something like that.