Pesticides banned in Europe kill bees in Brazil – 10/01/2023 – Environment

No matter the region, the recent outbreaks that killed bees in different parts of Brazil have in common, in addition to mass mortality, the same product, fipronil.

Synthesized in the 1980s, its patent has now expired and it can be produced by any company. Use has become indiscriminate, academics and agricultural technicians report.

Agronomists say that other pesticides, such as nicotine-based insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, slowly undermine the bees’ organism, weakening their physical functions until death, which reduces the number of hives over time.

Fipronil is different. The substance acts on the central nervous system of insects, causing overexcitation in muscles and nerves. It is relentless as an agent of acute death, says Ricardo Orsi, veterinary professor at Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista).

“Systemic insecticide with prolonged and aggressive action, today it is used in different crops, which explains the occurrence of bee contamination in several parts of Brazil”, he explains.

Ants and termites are its main targets, but it is applied against the boll weevil in cotton, the pinworm in corn, the elasm caterpillar in soybeans. It also has domestic uses. It is found in fly swatters and in dog and cat collars against fleas and ticks.

According to a survey by Sheettests showed that it was fipronil that killed 100 million bees in Mato Grosso, in June, 80 million in Bahia and, in July, and also caused, in January, losses in Minas Gerais.

Continuous studies in Mato Grosso do Sul have identified a growing association between mass deaths and the substance. In 2017, fipronil was in 30.5% of samples. In 2021, at 66.6%. Last year, it was detected in 85.7% of samples.

Going back in time a little, it was also responsible for the death of 50 million bees in Santa Catarina, in 2017, and for the outbreak that decimated almost 500 million in Rio Grande south, between October 2018 and March 2019.

In all cases of mass mortality, not far from the hives there was a rural property with large-scale cultivation.

“There is no riskier place for a bee today than on the side of a farm, as you never know what pesticides they will use, and how they will use them”, says beekeeper José Arnildo Marquezin.

It took time to establish the correlation between fipronil and acute deaths, says Aroni Sattle, retired professor at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul). “The outbreaks started in the early 2000s. The bees arrived, I examined them, and I didn’t find any disease or pest that would justify the intense mortality, overnight, so I started freezing samples”, he says.

In 2018, he sent 37 of them for evaluation, and fipronil appeared as the predominant pesticide. Assessments of later outbreaks were along the same lines. “We can say that 60% to 70% of deaths are caused by it.”

Technicians state that spraying by plane or tractor, posing a risk to workers, is the main problem, especially when carried out during flowering. The infected bee takes the poison to the hive and contaminates the swarm.

“In the most recent case here in Mato Grosso, they did not consider the temperature and wind recommended for application and, on that day, thermal inversion still occurred, increasing the harmful effect for a radius of 26 km [quilômetros]”, says veterinarian Erika do Nascimento, inspector at Indea (Agricultural Defense Institute in the state).

The inspection visited 22 properties and located the substance on a cotton farm. The producer was fined R$225,000.

In Bahia, the culprits were not identified, but the identification of fipronil was considered an advance, explains Marivanda Eloy, coordinator of the beekeeping area of ​​the state’s Family Farming Superintendence.

“In most cases, we don’t know what happened because we lack a laboratory and resources. Beekeepers are small producers who cannot pay R$800 to R$1,000 for each test. But this time, we were able to evaluate many samples and found fipronil even in wax, where it is difficult to detect residues.”

The outbreak killed 1,500 swarms from 32 producers who, organized into cooperatives and associations, worked together to follow the protocol foreseen in these cases: collect samples, prepare the police report (Occurrence Report), and burn all the honey and wax.

The count of beekeepers measures commercial losses in honey production. However, little is known about what is happening to wild bees, and what effect it has on the preservation of flora.

Brazil has 2,000 species of native bees, explains André Sezerino, researcher at Epagri (Agricultural Research and Rural Extension Company of Santa Catarina).

“People think that honey is the bee’s greatest asset and that it’s cute for her to visit the flowers, but honey is a minimal part of what she does. The greatest service is pollination,” he says.

“This work maintains the environment and what we eat. More than 70% of all the food we consume depends on bee pollination.”

BEEKEEPERS TRY TO CHANGE LEGISLATION

As the frequency of bee deaths is increasing, beekeepers are mobilized in several states in an attempt to restrict fipronil.

Goiás approved a law in April restricting the use of the substance. The Minas Gerais Assembly also has a similar proposal. “It’s been two years since I lost my bees, I put my head down and started again, but last time, I screamed,” says beekeeper Marcelo Ribeiro, who is leading the work to convince deputies to approve the project. “Part of my work now as a beekeeper is to eliminate the carrion of this fipronil, which was identified as the main responsible.”

The reference in legal change is Santa Catarina, a state that has a very organized honey sector chamber.

As a result, it adopted stricter regulations, which prohibit spraying, increase supervision and intensify dialogue with cooperatives and producers to stop incorrect practices.

Once, for example, the Public Ministry identified that a single agronomist had issued 1,450 prescriptions for fipronil in two weeks. In fact, he had left the signed sheets at the counters of the farms where he was technically responsible. The product comes out anyway, to anyone.

“We managed to reduce acute deaths by 70%”, says Ivanir Cella, president of the Federation of Beekeepers and Meliponiculturists Associations of Santa Catarina.

The sector, however, wants a national discussion to restrict or even ban fipronil. The commission that deals with bee deaths within the Honey Sector Chamber has made efforts in Brasília.

In August, he reiterated the request for a review of the legislation at Ibama (Ibama Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). A letter was sent detailing the progress of deaths.

“As fipronil is a toxic molecule, it needs to be evaluated”, explains Rodrigo Zaluski, member of the group and professor at UFMT (Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul).

“It turns out that this process was implemented in 2012 and has lasted more than ten years without a conclusion. From what we have identified, nicotine-based insecticides can be reviewed before fipronil, which is already proven to be more toxic.”

When questioned, Ibama and the Ministry of Agriculture did not respond until the publication of this text.

In the meantime, other countries have already banned fipronil, such as Colombia and Costa Rica.

The substance was also banned in the European Union precisely because of its high lethality in insects that are not targets. The contamination of eggs in at least 15 countries in the region in 2017 also contributed to the decision. A company used fipronil in the composition of a poultry disinfectant, compromising the chickens.

The European bloc, however, continues to allow the substance to be exported to other places. Activists have called for a change to this rule.

“It is scandalous to see that the European Union still allows its chemical companies to export fipronil to countries like Brazil”, says Irish activist Eoin Dubsky, who works for the NGO Ekō.

The German Basf acquired the product globally in 2003, and maintained the patent in Brazil until 2011, when it began to be sold by other companies. Its brand, however, remains associated with the substance.

Wanted by Sheet, the company stated that it has been monitoring events and that it identifies the misuse of the substance. According to her, in none of the recent cases had the products used been produced or marketed by Basf.