Three Connecticut lawmakers are among the 60 members of Congress who have signed a letter, dated September 30, to Gina McCarthy, administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Elizabeth Esty (D-Fifth Congressional District), Rosa DeLauro (D-Third Congressional District), and James Hines (D-Fourth Congressional District) have joined in requesting the EPA to consider recent findings from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Task Force on Systemic Insecticides that have linked the environmental accumulation of systemic pesticides, such as the neonicotinoids, to negative impacts on land and water wildlife.

Water-soluble neonicotinoids break down slowly in the environment, allowing them to be taken up by plants, and providing protection from insects. Neonicotinoids include acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid and thiamethoxam, with imidacloprid being the most widely used.

A new study from Harvard School of Public Health, published in the online Bulletin of Insectology, May 9, shows imidacloprid and clothianidin “appear to significantly harm honey bee colonies over the winter, particularly during colder winters.” The study indicates “neonicotinoids are causing some other kind of biological mechanism in bees that in turn leads to [colony collapse disorder].” Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which apparently healthy bees abandon hives over the winter, dying in great numbers. Commercial beekeepers, in particular, have experienced increasing losses over the past several years.

Birds, bumblebees, butterflies, and other pollinators have shown negative effects linked particularly to neonicotinoids, the letter notes.

The lawmakers encourage the US EPA to follow the lead of the US Fish and Wildlife Services, which plans to phase out the use of all neonicotinoids in National Wildlife Refuges by 2016.

The letter also makes recommendations to the agency, including to suspend use of neonicotinoids when pollinators cannot be protected; to evaluate pesticide proposals and reject registration for any prophylactic insecticides that are not in keeping with basic integrated pest management principles; to require up-to-date pesticide labels and to include a bee hazard statement on labels for products containing neonicotinoids; and to rectify discrepancies between application rates for backyard garden vs agricultural products.

The letter concludes, “Due to the newly emerging science demonstrating the risks of neonicotinoids, EPA should reassess neonicotinoid products intended for commercial use to determine whether they should be recategorized as restricted use.”

“The reality is that pollinators like bees have been decreasing at an alarming rate in Connecticut and across the country,” Ms Esty told The Newtown Bee. “That’s why I called upon the EPA to review and revise our current pesticide regulations. Restricting the use of dangerous and unnecessary pesticides, such as neonicotinoids, is a necessary step toward preserving our bee populations. The environmental and economic costs are too high to not take swift and effective action against the use of these harmful pesticides,” she said.