Toxic neonicotinoid insecticides are pervasive in Minnesota: in soils of cropland where “neonic”-coated seeds are planted, within the tissues of plants and many innocent species, and in streams, lakes and wetlands. They harm birds, bees and other diverse creatures. Is a new kind of “Silent Spring” heading our way?
I care for our biological neighbors – those diverse plants and unique critters on land and in water. A quote from evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould (1991) resonates: “We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love.”
I had no idea how dangerous these chemicals are, nor how pervasive. I’ve read warnings about harms to bees and other pollinators. I’ve learned that neonics move up plants into the nectar of flowers that pollinators consume and the leaves of milkweed chewed by hungry monarch butterfly caterpillars, even tissues of trees. But they also impact aquatic species, charismatic creatures I dearly love that emerge into air-born, glorious mayflies and dragonflies. My heart trembles when I read that tiny plankton species (like Daphnia) may die when neonics are in the water. Daphnia filter-feed on algae and are food for minnows. They’re cool to watch.
In Japan, neonicotinoids in rice paddy water and soil are toxic to immature dragonflies, causing impaired feeding and death. The adult dragonflies, beloved in Japan, are key consumers of rice-damaging insects and malaria-bearing mosquitos. The seedlings had been planted in neonic-treated potting soil.
Even wild deer? Most deer tested have these toxins in their spleens, even deer from the Boundary Waters. I’ve read they harm fawns, and distort jaw bones. The source of their exposure is unknown – from water they drink? From plants they nibble on?
My thoughts fly back to 1966 reports of many robins dying in north Minneapolis after eating earthworms beneath elm trees that were sprayed with DDT. They were unable to fly, shaking and bouncing, before they died. The late state Rep. Willard Munger, who championed many environmental laws, brought a basket of dead robins to a hearing in the Legislature when he worked to have DDT use banned back in 1968. But not until 1972, two years after the U.S. EPA was formed, was DDT finally banned by EPA.
So what is the EPA doing now about neonicotinoids?
Most of these insecticides get into the environment on coated crop seeds – almost all corn, soybean, wheat, canola and other seeds are coated with neonics. Yet, in September of 2022, the EPA refused to ban the seed coatings, citing the “Treated Seed Exemption,” whatever that is.
In 2018, the European Union banned three common neonicotinoids, forbidding use in field crops because they threaten bees and pollinators. And on Jan. 19, the European Union’s Court of Justice stopped the emergency exemption for treated seeds.
Yet our country continues widespread use in massive amounts.
I’ve read that neonics are neurotoxins; they target key receptors in the central nervous system of many species, not just pest insects. Some song birds that eat treated seeds die, others experience poor reproduction, reduced body fat, and may become disoriented when migrating. Neonics are found in some feathers. Globally birds are under threat already: one study finds approximately half of existing bird species worldwide are undergoing population decline.
What can we do?
Check lawn care products; ask your garden center if neonics are in potted plants. And we can also support bills addressing this serious issue, including HF 206, HF 921 and HF1317. We also need to demand the state prohibit sale of certain neonic-coated seeds for food, feed, oil and ethanol production; regulate the use, storage, disposal and sale of pesticide-treated seeds.
Judy Helgen is a retired research scientist from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. She worked on biological monitoring of wetlands water quality based on aquatic invertebrate communities and led the investigation into widespread deformed frogs. She lives in Falcon Heights.
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