Canadian Forest Service Publications
Effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on non-target invertebrates. 2015. Pisa, L.W.; Amaral-Rogers, V. Belunces, L.P.; Bonmatin, J.M.; Downs, C.A.; Goulson, D.; Kreutzweiser, D.P.; Krupke, C.; Liess, M.; McField, M.; Morrissey, C.A.; Noome, D.A.; Settel, J.; Simon-Delso, N.; Stark, J.D.; Van der Sluijs, J.P.; Van Dyck,H.; Wiemers, M. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 22(1):68-102.
Year: 2015
Issued by: Great Lakes Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 35749
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3471-x
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Plain Language Summary
This paper is part of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) of Systemic Pesticides series of papers in Environmental Science and Pollution Research. The WIA is a comprehensive literature review and synthesis on environmental risks associated with the use of the systemic insecticides, neonicotinoids and fipronil. David Kreutzweiser is a research scientist at NRCan/CFS and is a participant and author in the WIA. This paper examines and synthesizes published literature on the risks to invertebrates posed by the widescale and often prophylactic use of these systemic insecticides. The synthesis shows that concentrations regularly found in the environment pose serious risks to a broad range of beneficial invertebrates, especially honeybees and other pollinators, butterflies and moths, earthworms, aquatic invertebrates and other species. The synthesis also shows that risks to most of these groups have been estimated from laboratory or other controlled experiments, and that actual population or community level responses to insecticide applications in the field are often lacking and are critical information gaps. The authors indicate that sufficient evidence exists to conclude that the wide scale use of these systemic insecticides is likely to have broad ranging negative ecological impacts and that regulatory agencies should therefore apply precautionary principles and move to tighten regulations on these systemic insecticides. Policy implications to the NRCan are minimal. There is one neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, registered for forestry in Canada, but the use of imidacloprid in forest pest control is currently very limited and therefore the environmental exposure and risk from the forestry use of this neonicotinoid in Canada is negligible.