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As other insecticides are phased out -- due mainly to concerns about their safety -- increasingly
products containing Imidacloprid
(Ref #1 ,
Ref#2) are
approved in their place.
Many, if not most agricultural consultants
regard imidacloprid as promising and quite safe for the user, for the
consumer, and for the environment.
However, recently, partly as a result of
beekeeper experience in France in particular, and Europe generally,
partly because of new techniques to measure residues and detect effects,
and partly due to questions about the quality of the research proving
imidacloprid safe, concerns have been surfacing about the potential
dangers to the environment and to both natural and managed pollinators.
Increasingly alarms are being raised that
this chemical is systemic, persistent and damaging in subtle ways to bees
at lower exposure levels than previously imagined. As a
result, public protests in Europe have made the news and increased
scrutiny is being directed towards the research that has been used to
support the claims of safety.
Demands are being made for proof that the
science behind the new approvals is both independent and good science.
The purpose of this site is to examine the
issues fearlessly from all sides.
Let the chips fall where they may.
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