Bumble bee study does not affect neonicotinoid conclusions, EFSA says

The Authority made the following points regarding the relevance of the study, Effects of neonicotinoid seed treatments on bumble bee colonies under field conditions (Thompson et al.), to the risk assessments published by EFSA:

• EFSA’s assessments covered the authorised uses of a number of plant protection products containing thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid across the European Union. The FERA study looked at only one crop – oilseed rape – and two plant protection products – one containing clothianidin, the other imidacloprid – authorised for use in the UK. Furthermore, the test sites and surrounding areas used in the FERA study reflect a small sample of agricultural conditions in the UK and cannot be considered representative of conditions in other parts of the EU.
• Two important routes of exposure Concentration or amount of a particular substance that is taken in by an individual, population or ecosystem in a specific frequency over a certain amount of time. – dust and guttation – were not addressed by the FERA study.
• In its assessments, EFSA reached conclusions mainly for honey bees, and identified a data gap for other pollinators. Field studies of bumble bees cannot be used to understand the risks to honey bees and other pollinators because of significant species A subdivision of the genus, a species is a group of closely related and similar-looking organisms; for example, in the case of Homo sapiens (humans), the second part of the name (sapiens) represents the species. differences.

EFSA’s experts highlighted a number of other deficiencies in the report. These include:

• Inconsistencies and contradictory statements regarding the objectives of the study.
• Absence of suitable control bee colonies. In particular, analysis of residues in pollen and nectar showed that the “control” site had been contaminated by thiamethoxam.
• Environmental conditions were varied across the three the test sites, which reduces the sensitivity of the study in detecting effects on colonies.

EFSA also raised concerns about how Thompson et al. elaborated and interpreted the study results to reach their conclusions.

• Evaluation of the FERA study on bumble bees and consideration of its potential impact on the EFSA conclusions on neonicotinoids

• Conclusion on the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment for bees for the active substance clothianidin
• Conclusion on the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment for bees for the active substance imidacloprid
• Conclusion on the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment for bees for the active substance thiamethoxam