The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) has instituted regulatory and educational measures designed to protect bees and other pollinators from exposure to certain pesticides, including requiring pesticide manufacturers to include some Oregon-specific label on some products. These changes come five months after state officials temporarily prohibited the use of pesticides containing the active ingredient dinotefuran following a massive bee kill-off in Wilsonville, Ore.
As a condition of annual registration for 2014, ODA is requiring an Oregon-specific label statement on dinotefuran and imidacloprid products being sold or distributed in the state. The agency said this action is a rare step and it indicates the importance ODA places on protecting pollinators.
These label statements will prohibit applicators from applying these products on linden, basswood or Tilia species. Bee deaths reported this year involved products containing these active ingredients applied to European linden trees. It appears the tree species’ natural toxicity to bumblebees, in combination with the pesticides, contributed to the deaths, ODA said. The pesticide use investigations into the pollinator deaths are expected to be completed by mid-December.
Additionally, ODA Director Katy Coba sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting additional evaluation of these pesticide active ingredients and other neonicotinoids to determine if use limitations on a national basis should be considered.
ODA is also expanding its educational efforts on pollinator protection to licensed pesticide applicators and the general public. For applicators, additional emphasis on pollinator protection will be included in the required testing and recertification process to become licensed. Outreach to the general public will include information on ODA’s website, as well as brochures and other materials distributed through master gardener programs and retail outlets.
