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Roundup Weed Killer Could Be Linked To Widespread Bee Deaths, Study Finds (npr.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: A new study [published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] by scientists at the University of Texas at Austin posit that glyphosate -- the active ingredient in the herbicide -- destroys specialized gut bacteria in bees, leaving them more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria. Researchers Nancy Moran, Erick Motta and Kasie Raymann suggest their findings are evidence that glyphosate might be contributing to colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that has been wreaking havoc on honey bees and native bees for more than a decade. They hope their results will convince farmers, landscapers and homeowners to stop spraying glyphosate-based herbicides on flowering plants that are likely to be pollinated by bees.
"No large-scale study has ever found a link between glyphosate and honey bee health issues," Bayer said in a statement, adding that the new study "does not change that." Bayer noted the study relied on a small sample of individual bees and that it does not meet regulatory research criteria on pesticides stipulated by international guidelines developed by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and other international organizations. Additionally, the company suggested it is "questionable whether the concentrations of the substance tested could at all be absorbed by bee populations in the open over a relevant period of time." According to the report in the journal, the researchers focused on honey bees and used "hundreds of adult worker bees from a single hive" and treated them with varying levels of glyphosate. Editor's note: In June, Germany's pharmaceutical giant Bayer purchased Monsanto, the company that developed Roundup.
"No large-scale study has ever found a link between glyphosate and honey bee health issues," Bayer said in a statement, adding that the new study "does not change that." Bayer noted the study relied on a small sample of individual bees and that it does not meet regulatory research criteria on pesticides stipulated by international guidelines developed by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and other international organizations. Additionally, the company suggested it is "questionable whether the concentrations of the substance tested could at all be absorbed by bee populations in the open over a relevant period of time." According to the report in the journal, the researchers focused on honey bees and used "hundreds of adult worker bees from a single hive" and treated them with varying levels of glyphosate. Editor's note: In June, Germany's pharmaceutical giant Bayer purchased Monsanto, the company that developed Roundup.
I think once we (at long last) manage to kill Bayer/Monsanto by whichever means, we'll have to drive a stake through its heart.
Such a disgusting monster.
It may, or it may not. Salt and vinegar are both very good at killing plants, but I do like my chips!
And it doesn't look like this study proves much.
Monsanto has announced their first GM, roundup resistant bees. Available soon. /s
Could it bee?
I think Bayer might make it a career limiting move for any scientist brave enough to attempt to find out.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
and suddenly the research that proves it's harmful after all start to pop up. What a coincidence.
I am not an expert in pesticides and bees. However, as a person with a biology background, this seems like it could be a big deal.
(a) It is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and so will likely get a fair amount of additional attention
(b) Pollinators are currently getting a lot of attention because they are so involved in food production, and humans like to eat. Hence there is funding for research.
(c) Microbiome research is a hot topic, seems like a feasible explanation to colony collapse, and so there probably will be a lot of other researchers interested in replicating the results (with increasingly rigorous methods).
One final thought. To all of the people that bash research as proving the trivial, this is definitely a counter example (as is most research).
jumped on the bandwagon and released their own pesticides
Glyphosphate is an herbicide, not a pesticide. And as far as reaching a 'critical mass', it really can only be used on crops that are engineered to be resistant to it. Or it will kill the crops as well. As for home use; it tends to be applied where everything in an area needs to be killed prior to planting desirable plants.
Have gnu, will travel.
This headline and the comments it has created have me scratching my head. I and other farmers use a fair amount of glyphosate but I can't think of any time I'v seen it used on flowering plants. Glyphosate use is fairly staggering in quantity but nearly all of that is used on glyphosate-resistant crops to control weeds, and this by definition must be done when the crop and weeds are very small. In other words, weeks or months before flowering. If glyphosate were sprayed on a crop that was flowering it would abort flowers and destroy yield, if not making the plants very sick. So it wouldn't make any sense for a farmer to use glyphosate in this way to begin with. Something smells funny.
By the way we also have our own bees that we use for pollinating a glyphosate-tolerant crop.
In yards and around homes also, glyphosate is typically not sprayed on glowering plants. Why would it be? You wouldn't use glyphosate to remove dandelions from your lawn for example (if you do, you're in for a very dead lawn).
This study is highly problematic for this reason. The findings may well be true about toxicity to bees, but if glyphosate isn't used typically on flowering plants or weeds, then the study is somewhat pointless, if interesting. Certainly it cannot inform any policies over the use of glyphosate, except to urge that it not be used on flowering plants, which it already isn't.
In the end, however, those calling for the end of glyphosate will probably get their wish as over-use of glyphosate is rapidly ending the effectiveness of that chemical. And everyone will end up paying for that in increased food costs.