The truth about Imidacloprid

CR 592

Billy:

…But now I am interested in how you see the poisons that are applied to plants, fruits and vegetables, and I am thinking especially of those poisons that are used against insects, such as pesticides, especially the new poisons neonicotinoids. Not only do these poisons kill birds or reduce their numbers, they also kill benign insects and other life-forms that are important for the survival of nature. Wild animals and domestic animals such as cattle, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits and poultry, and finally also the human beings are affected by these poisons.

Ptaah:

40. That is correct.

41. In the narrower sense, pesticides are means of controlling insects and other pests, whereby these poisons are intended to kill, drive away or inhibit annoying or harmful living creatures in their brood and in their growth or reproduction.

42. It is a fact, however, that pesticides also kill or decimate benign and useful creatures to a large extent, and I must mention bees and birds in particular.

43. The so-called modern pesticides, especially the neonicotinoids, are particularly bad, because they drive bees and birds to extinction.

44. The barn swallows and various sparrow species are very strongly affected, because these bird species in particular are very strong insect predators, precisely in relation to insects that are specifically poisoned by the toxin imidacloprid..

45. However, finch species and other birds are also affected, which are slowly being eradicated by these poisons.

46. It is also correct what you say with regard to the human beings and domestic animals, etc., because all the poisons, including all the neonicotinoids, enter the ground water, the atmosphere and the surface water, and consequently, by breathing the air and drinking the water, they enter the organism of all life-forms.

47. As a result, animals and wildlife, as well as many people, fall ill, even to the point of suffering from various cancers.

48. Since the use of imidacloprid since the mid-1990s, it is very clear how the insect venoms have already decimated a large part of the bee world as well as benign and useful small and micro-organisms and various species of birds in a harmful way, while it is also clear that this ongoing extinction in the world of birds and in the world of good and useful life-forms is solely due to the action of the poisoned insects.

49. If we look at birds alone, it is clear that they simply do not find enough food among the insects, which in principle do not need to be controlled as pests.

50. If we look at the declining bird population, we can see that it is declining by an average of 3.5 percent per year.

51. So it is clear that pesticides kill both harmful and good insects, and here I am referring in particular to neonicotinoids, which also include the poison imidacloprid.

52. However, it is not only this type of poison that should be mentioned, as there are several others, but neonicotinoids are among those poisons that develop their toxic effects almost exclusively in the nervous system of insects.

53. Neonicotinoids are the main responsible for the mass death of honeybees and other flower and blossom pollinators.

54. Neonicotinoids are also directly harmful to vertebrates, damaging their fertility, growth, nervous system and also the immune system, up to and including many higher species, including birds, but also fish and mammals.

55. And if the fields and meadows are looked at, it can be seen that many are so densely planted that the light barely reaches the ground.

56. It is also evident that the massive use of neonicotinoids has undoubtedly also had indirect effects on the field fauna and the adjacent ecosystems for some time now.

57. This is precisely because around 95 percent of the neonicotinoids are deposited in the soil and thus naturally also sink into the groundwater.

58. It must also be said that these toxins remain chemically intact for up to three years, although it is of course also clear that these toxins cannot distinguish between good and bad insects.

59. As a result, they also decimate the livelihood of many insectivores worldwide, with birds being the most vulnerable in this respect.

60. So it is clear that there is a link between pesticides, insects and the loss of bird species, benign and beneficial insects and mammals and other animals.

61. As far as pesticides are concerned, there are several hundred of them, each of which eliminates at least one or even several food sources of higher life-forms, which are necessary for all fauna and flora.

62. Unfortunately, Earth human beings lack the technological knowledge of pesticides that are so specific that they do not have any impact on biodiversity.

63. Ultimately, it is not just about pesticides alone, but specifically about the unreasonable and nature-unfriendly intensification of agriculture throughout the world.

64. As a result, acres, fields and meadows have been and continue to be so densely overgrown that no light can penetrate to the ground.

65. As a result, acres, fields, and meadows become hostile to the birds.

66. And pesticides, which are a prerequisite for intensive forms of arable field and meadow cultivation, destroy the food supply of birds and various other important and useful life forms through the direct and indirect effects of poisons.

67. A definitive ban on neonicotinoids is therefore absolutely essential, as the problem of species extinction can only be solved by changing the way agriculture is run.

68. Organic farming is indeed a possibility, if pesticides and other poisons are not secretly introduced anyway.

69. In the end, however, Earth human beings’ wits and reason must inevitably take hold and politicians and governments must take countermeasures and ban all pesticides and other toxins.

See also:

The truth about neonicotinoids

The truth about Glyphosate

We Are Killing Bees with Pesticides

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