Wildlife advocates push for DNR to remove neonics
New research is adding to evidence that neonicotinoid insecticides, known to be toxic to pollinators, are widely spreading in the environment and have negative impacts on the health and viability of birds AND mammals.
THE NEW SOUTH DAKOTA STUDY by Dr. Jonathan Jenks showed that ingestion of field-realistic levels of neonicotinoid insecticides reduced feeding, lowered body mass and fat, and caused lethargy with less activity in adult female and young white-tailed deer. In pheasants the chemical concentrations correlated to reduced adult and chick survival. A study conducted by the North Dakota Department of Game and Fish concluded that the insecticide is accumulating in predator species such as otters, bobcats and fishers.
Read summary of Dr. Jenks work in this PBS article: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/safety-concerns-mount-over-neonicotinoid-pesticides-in-unexpected-places
MINNESOTA DNR COLLECTED DEER SPLEENS which contributed to the Dakota research. In a second year of spleen testing, neonicotinoids were found to be rapidly spreading throughout the state deer herd with researchers finding neonics in nearly all the sampled deer. And in just one year the amount of neonics detected in deer more than doubled. MPR ARTICLE, Dan Gunderson, Aug. 2022: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/08/23/data-show-increasing-insecticide-levels-in-minnesota-deer
Tribune article, Greg Stanley, Sept. 2022 https://www.startribune.com/nearly-all-minnesota-deer-exposed-to-pesticides-linked-to-pollinator-die-off/600205634/
WATER CONTAMINATION: Neonicotinoids spread rapidly through the environment due to their high-water solubility and their persistence in the environment. Neonicotinoids have a half-life of as much as 1000 days which means that after 3 years half the chemical is still available in the soil and water to be absorbed by plants and consumed by wildlife. The Minnesota PCA found widespread neonic contamination of surface water in Minnesota, Dec 2020. https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.4959
SONGBIRDS: Neonics reduce fueling and delay migration in songbirds: Science, Sept 2019 https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aaw9419
American Bird Conservancy, Just one neonic-coated seed can kill a songbird: https://abcbirds.org/article/birds-bees-and-aquatic-life-threatened-by-gross-underestimate-of-toxicity-of-worlds-most-widely-used-pesticide-2/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CA%20single%20corn%20kernel%20coated,can%20fatally%20poison%20a%20bird