News

Bayer has imidicloprid review results

The EPA is expected to release its review of a neonic chemical in December – and Bayer CropScience is ready with a peer-reviewed study of research results.

Dwayne Moore is the Senior vice president and scientist with Intrinsic Environmental Sciences, hired by Bayer to do the review of more than 100 studies on imidacloprid, “And when you put all that information together – the original document is hundreds and hundreds of pages long – we found very little risk for aquatic invertebrates.” And the review shows that the neonic is also unlikely to harm birds and fish that feed on those invertebrates.

Every 15 years, the EPA reviews chemicals and it’s about finished with this one. Moore tells Brownfield Ag News, “Bayer wanted to be prepared with sort of the most up-to-date and comprehensive risk assessment it could have so that they can enter into discussions with EPA about where to go from here.”

Moore tells Brownfield this is separate from EPA’s review of imidacloprid and pollinators. The pesticide is used in soybeans and cotton, among other crops.