PLANET IN PERIL

EcoWatch The European Parliament, representing 28 countries and more than 500 million people, has voted to phase out the popular weedkiller, glyphosate over 5 years. It was also banned immediately in households. Story here. A container of "Roundup," the most famous formulation containing glyphosate, in a collection depot in Manitoba.  PinP photo.

EcoWatch - by David Suzuki The Canadian government is  banning plastic microbeads  in toiletries. Although designed to clean us, they're polluting the environment, putting the health of fish, wildlife and people at risk. Manufacturers and consumers ushered  plastic microbeads  into the marketplace, but when we learned of their dangers, we moved to phase them out. Story here. RELATED:  Tainted honey spells more trouble for bees. Are we losing the battle to save them?

 by Larry Powell Three out of every four samples of honey tested in a global survey released this week, were tainted with  neonicotinoids,  the world's most widely-used insecticide. A five-member Swiss research team  tested almost two hundred honey samples from every continent except Antarctica (including several remote islands), for the five main compounds in the "neonic family" of pesticides (acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam). At least one  of those compounds was found  in 75%  of all samples tested. (Fourty-five percent contained two or more, while ten percent showed traces of four or five.) The levels detected were considered too low to pose a risk to people who actually eat honey. But, for adult bees, honey is their  only  food in winter and when flowers aren't blooming. While "neonics" may not always kill the pollinators outright, they've been shown to have "sub-lethal

Nation of Change "Whether this is a question of negligence or intent, it is completely unacceptable for government bodies to pass off industry analysis as their own." Story here. A crop-duster sprays pesticides  on a crop in Manitoba.   PinP photo.

EcoWatch The Air Force has dispatched big spray planes to control pests which they claim pose a health risk to rescue workers around Houston. Sadly, those "pests" include the good ones, like bees. Story here.

QC Country "Residents were shovelling away dead crayfish" according to Denise Melnyk. Story here.

CBC news A rufus hummingbird, one of the kinds in decline. Dean E. Biggins 'No one has ever measured pesticides in hummingbirds before. So we decided to try it,' says scientist. Story here. RELATED:  "Will New Research Nudge Canada Toward a 'Neonic" Ban?" " Environmental groups back in court over pollinator-killing pesticides "

ScienceDaily Wikimedia Commons Researchers find that bees fed with thiacloprid  (a neonic) significantly reduces their social interactions,  suggesting that foraging bees that encounter  high  doses of insecticide in the field may be less likely  to recruit others to nectar sources.  Story here. RELATED:  Will New Research From Europe Nudge Canada Toward a "Neonic" Ban? New research suggests “Neonics,” the world’s most widely-used family of insecticides, can decimate bee populations.

by Larry Powell Most Canadian fields  of canola ("oilseed rape"  in  Europe)  grow from seed treated with neonics . PinP photo. Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), which tests and registers pesticides in this country, says it will take recent European research into account in deciding the future of neonicotinoids. They're the world's most widely used, and controversial family of insecticides.  A major field study, published in the journal Nature last week,  found that  neonics  did not seem to harm  honey bees and two wild bee species scientists studied in Germany.  However, it was a different story in Hungary and the U.K. There, the same species located near oil rapeseed (canola) crops treated with the neonic, clothianidin, produced 24% fewer workers the following spring!  While the European Union clamped a moratorium on neonics in 2013, Canada chose a different path. The PMRA has continued to approve their use, even tho it

 Chemical companies, who helped fund the study, believe it provides a loophole they can use to support their case for their continued use. by Larry Powell Bumblebees forage on chives in a Canadian garden.  A PinP  photo. It was the first, large-scale field trial of its kind in Europe. It looked at ways that two kinds of “neonics," (clothianidin and thiamethoxam) may affect tame honeybees and two wild bee species in the UK, Hungary and Germany.   Its findings were published yesterday in the journal, Science. In the UK and Hungary, honeybee colonies located near crops of “oilseed rape” (also called “Canola”) treated with clothianidin and planted the previous year, had almost one quarter (24%) fewer workers in the spring. ( Thiamethoxam didn’t hurt them.) As Richard Pywell, an ecologist at the UK-based Centre for Ecology & Hydrology,  puts it, “We’re showing significant negative effects at critical life-cycle stages, which is a cause for concern

+SumOfUs The European Commission is poised to propose a game-changing law to protect bees and other pollinators. The new ban on bee-killing pesticides would go far beyond current protections, banning three deadly neonics from fields all across Europe. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION. PinP photo.

"Look at this, our food is laced with poison - exactly what we had been saying. Our industrial world is killing us. No wonder people are dying. The cost of doing mass production is our souls and health of our nations." This is Dave Daniels, Elder on Long Plain First Nation, Manitoba and specialist in wild plants and herbal medicines.  He was reacting to a recently-released finding  by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. In studies conducted in '15 & '16, the federal food watchdog discovered traces of glyphosate, "a probable carcinogen," (World Health Organization) in almost 30% of food samples tested. To better understand Mr. Daniel's story and his anger, please watch the video, below.

by Larry Powell A field of durum wheat. (Wikimedia Commons) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has detected the weedkiller glyphosate in almost thirty percent (29.7%) of food products it tested over the past two years.  The foods were; fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, grains, beverages, beans, peas, lentils, soy beans and children’s food. While small amounts were found in all of the food groups tested, the CFIA concludes, levels were only high enough to be of concern to human health in 1.3 percent, overall. The grain tested  (wheat and barley), had more  Glyphosate above the acceptable standard (3.9%)  than any other food group.  Less than one percent (.2% - .6%) of bean, pea, lentil and juice samples tested above the acceptable limit. While traces of the herbicide were found in all food groups tested, none of the fruits, vegetables, soy products or infant food were found to exceed the acceptable limit.   The agency says, where levels were unacce

Eco Watch Machinery sits ready to plant another field of "neonic" seeds in Manitoba. PinP photo. After evidence of pesticides killing off pollinators surfaced in 2016, scientists went on a quest to see if pesticides were seeping into anything else. Now, in an unprecedented study, the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Iowa reported findings of neonicotinoids —a class of pesticide used to kill off insects—in treated drinking water, marking the first time these chemicals have ever been identified. Story here. ==== In Canada, the propensity of "neonics" to get into ground and surface water has been known for some time. Please read "New Studies Show Farm Chemicals Are Affecting More Than Bees. Bird Populations are Declining, Too. Is modern agriculture's hold on nature becoming a death grip?"  

Robb Fraley   Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto Recently, I had the opportunity to check a long-desired item off my bucket list; a visit to the winter home of millions of monarch butterflies in west central  Mexico.  Story here. A Monarch visits a flower-garden in Manitoba. PinP photo.

Nation of Change The revelations from the unsealed Monsanto emails underscore the vital need for independent science and transparency. Story here. Ground sprayer in Manitoba. PinP photo.

The Western Producer A Manitoba honeybee hive.  PinP  photo. For years, environmentalists have said insecticides must be banned to protect bees. Now, some of those same environmental groups are saying that glyphosate must be banned to protect consumers from tainted honey. Story here. Please also read:  "Are Pesticide Regulators on the Take? Canadian Regulators Refuse to Protect Precious Pollinators From Known Toxins. Is Something Crooked Going on Here?" "Field of Nightmares. Ottawa continues to embrace the widespread use of Roundup on Canadian farms, by letting corporate seduction trump scientific evidence."