Neonicotinoids
Neonics are the Deadliest Insecticides Ever Created
Neonicotinoids (neonics) are a class of synthetic neurotoxic insecticides used on lawns, gardens, agricultural crops, golf courses, and flea and tick pet treatments.
Developed in the mid-1990s by Bayer and Shell to kill certain insects, neonics are the most commonly used yet deadliest insecticides ever created. They kill indiscriminately, eliminating not only “pest” insects, but non-pests like butterflies, bees, birds and other wildlife.
Today we are witnessing an insect apocalypse in the U.S. driven by a 48-times increase in this toxic pesticide. (1)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a misguided cost benefit analysis instead of a health benefit analysis, such as cancer harms to humans, to determine the safety of neonicotinoids.
Only 5% of the neonicotinoid pesticide coating is taken up into the plant according to industry research. That 5% is found in all parts of the plant including the roots, leaves, pollen and nectar making the entire plant toxic to insects. The remaining 95% moves through soil, where it can remain for years, air, and into waterways.
Neonics are Toxic, Persistent, and Everywhere
Neonicotinoids are applied to plant roots or crop seeds. As the plant grows, neonics are absorbed systemically into the nectar, pollen, fruit and leaves—making every part toxic, even dew on leaves.
Neonics bioaccumulate and may persist in soil for up to 19 years before breaking down in the environment. They are easily carried long distances by rain or irrigation water. They broadly contaminate water, concentrating in areas of year-after-year use (2).
Neonoic treated crop seeds account for millions of pounds of pesticide use every year. Pre-coated crop seeds, primarily corn, soybean and wheat, are sold to farmers as a preventive treatment, whether they’re needed or not. The EPA designates treated seeds as “treated articles” and so exempts them from pesticide regulation. Because seeds are not necessarily marked as having been coated, surveys of farmers indicate about 40% are unaware that insecticides are on the seeds.
Today, 100% of conventional corn seeds are pretreated with a neonic before planting. Decades of studies show the far-reaching harms of neonicotinoid saturation.
“The vast majority of neonic applications—covering hundreds of millions of acres—are treating pest problems that don’t exist. When they do, neonics can actually make those pest problems worse for farmers by killing off beneficial bugs and soil microbes that improve crop health, resiliency, and output.” ~ NRDC, Courtney Lindwall
There are several types of neonics, chemical compounds, that include acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, thiacloprid, and nitenpyram.
Non-organic corn, soybean and wheat seeds are usually pre-coated with neonics as a preventative treatment, whether the pesticide coating is needed or not. These seeds are High Harm, No Benefit.
Neonics Kill Bees
A robust body of scientific evidence links neonic use to massive bee population losses, including two worldwide academic assessments, Cornell University research, and even a major pesticide-industry-funded field study (3).
In Connecticut, beekeepers lost 65.7% of their colonies in 2021, the third steepest losses in the country (4) suggesting possible similar catastrophic losses for Connecticut’s 337 native bee species. These losses threaten ecosystems and the 24 billion dollars worth of pollination pollinators provide to crops like apples, squash, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, and pears annually in the U.S.
Neonics Kill Birds
Research links neonics to large declines in U.S. bird species (5) contributing to the 30% decline in North American birds seen in the last 50 years.
Eating just one neonic-treated seed is enough to kill a songbird, and even at low doses, neonics can harm birds’ immune systems, fertility, and navigation, and cause rapid weight loss, reducing birds’ chances of surviving in the wild. As neonics kill insect populations, birds also starve. In Europe, for example, declining bird populations were linked to low levels of neonics in water.
Neonics Harm the Majority of Endangered Species
The Environmental Protection Agency recently released Endangered Species Act evaluations for the neonic chemicals imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam which found its approvals of pesticides containing the chemicals were likely to adversely affect between 70% to 80% of all federally listed endangered or threatened species, depending on the chemical.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act
Neonics Contaminate Water, Debilitate Ecosystems, Harm Fish, Pollinators and Mammals
The US Geological Survey tests Connecticut Rivers (monthly since 2001) for 218 pesticides. Of those, roughly 30 show up in Connecticut Rivers, but only one shows up consistently at levels that exceed the EPA benchmarks for aquatic life: imidacloprid. It is used largely in Connecticut to kill grubs on lawns and golf courses and as coatings on agricultural seeds.
For the past decade, imidacloprid levels in the Norwalk River have consistently been above the EPA’s ‘benchmark’ for aquatic insects such as mayflies and stoneflies. From 2013-2023, imidacloprid concentrations in the Norwalk River, measured just south of the Merritt parkway, exceeded the EPA benchmark every month, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The problem was worse in the summer, when in July, 95% of the samples were above the benchmark.
Neonics hollow out ecosystems by eradicating aquatic insect populations, such as mayflies, that birds, fish, amphibians, and other animals depend on for food. Neonic water contamination has been linked to harm bats and birth defects in white-tailed deer (6).
Neonic Studies Show Harm to Human Health
Monitoring by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that half the U.S. population is regularly exposed to neonics with the highest levels found in children (7). This is particularly concerning given human and animal research linking neonics to potential neurological, developmental, and reproductive harms, including malformations of the developing heart and brain (8).
States that have Neonic Bans in Place
Maine, New Jersey, New York, Vermont have passed laws restricting use on golf courses, lawns and in ornamental landscaping. Most neonic uses are banned in Europe and parts of Canada.
For a more in-depth look at the adverse effects of neonicotinoids on humans at every age, see Effects on Humans.
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See Pierre Mineau, Impacts of Neonics in New York Water (2019), https://on.nrdc.org/2lXsO0O [hereinafter “Mineau 2019”].
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See Lennard Pisa et al., An Update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on Systemic Insecticides, Envtl. Sci. Pollution Research Int’l (Nov. 9, 2017), https://bit.ly/2HqqHwB; Thomas Wood & Dave Goulson, The Environmental Risks of Neonicotinoid Pesticides, Envtl. Sci. Pollution Research Int’l (Jun. 7, 2017), https://bit.ly/2Hpn8T5; McArt et al. 2017, High Pesticide Risk to Honey Bees Despite Low Focal Crop Pollen Collection During Pollination of a Mass Blooming Crop, Scientific Reports (Apr. 19, 2017), https://go.nature.com/2Ir0o9Y; Daniel Cressey, Largest-ever Study of Controversial Pesticides Finds Harm to Bees, Nature (Jun. 29, 2017), https://go.nature.com/2sgJjDk
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See Bee Informed Partnership, Colony Loss Map, https://bit.ly/2HpheoW, and select “Annual” under the “Season” menu.
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Science News, Decline in US Bird Diversity Related to Neonicotinoids, Study Shows, (Aug. 14, 2020), https://bit.ly/3nHu427
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See Pierre Mineau & Carolyn Callaghan, Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Bats, Canadian Wildlife Federation (2018), https://bit.ly/2kSfs5K; Jim Daley, As Pesticide Turns Up in More Places, Safety Concerns Mount, Scientific American (Apr. 30, 2019), https://bit.ly/2oft0dv.
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M. Ospina et al., Exposure to Neonicotinoid Insecticides in the U.S. General Population, Envtl. Res. (Jun. 24, 2019) https://bit.ly/2q11yRf.
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A. Cimino etal.,Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticide Exposure on Human Health:A Systematic Review,125 Envtl. Health Persp.155-62(2017), https://bit.ly/2NVA1LR.