Health Hotline Magazine | March 2025

By Charity Isely

Neonic-Treated Seeds Threaten the Existence of Hundreds of Endangered Species

The most widely used class of insecticides in the U.S., neonicotinoids (“neonics” for short), will “jeopardize the continued existence” of more than one in 10 endangered species in the country, according to a recent analysis. If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps this will—although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted the analysis, the agency believes the most common use of these chemicals— as seed treatments—“will not cause species to

in rivers across the country, Great Lakes tributaries, wells, and groundwater in Iowa. A 2021 study lead by Dana Kolpin, a research hydrologist at the USGS, found clothianidin, frequently used to treat corn seeds, in 68 percent of groundwater samples from Iowa and Minnesota, yet clothianidin is rarely used in these states for any other purpose.

An inconvenient truth about neonic-treated seeds is that the treatments may be largely ineffective, especially on soybeans. One study found that soybean seed treatments actually helped target pests survive because they primarily harmed their natural enemies—nature's own pest control. And, in 2014, the EPA stated there was "little or no overall benefit" to using treated seeds in soybean production for pest control, crop yield, or quality. However, farmers have few other options due to treated seeds dominating markets and insurance policies incentivizing their

go extinct.” However, the agency doesn’t regulate, track, or report on the use of treated seeds. The EPA's analysis focused on three of the most used neonicotinoids: thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and imidacloprid. These chemicals are primarily used as treatments applied directly to seeds before being sold to farmers and are planted on approximately 150 million crop acres annually. The EPA estimates that between 70 and 80 percent of all corn, soybean, and cotton is grown using

purchase. And there is a disturbing lack of precise information on how and when farmers use treated seeds, due to the Treated Article Exemption. This regulatory loophole, originally enacted to exempt the EPA from assessing the safety of treated lumber, also extends to pesticide-coated seeds. These seeds, classified as Treated Articles, are not regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), the EPA's regulatory framework for all other pesticides. So, what are consumers to do? Certified organic agriculture prohibits the use of neonicotinoids. And while no system is flawless, organic is more heavily regulated and monitored than any other U.S. food system, with potentially costly consequences when producers violate rules. Choose organic for the sake of the rusty patched bumblebee, Attwater’s greater prairie chicken, star cactus, and many other animals and plants jeopardized by the widespread use of neonicotinoids. And choose it for your own health, and the biodiversity it depends upon. For references, please visit: naturalgrocers.com/issue-92

neonic-treated seeds, but the variety of crops is wide ranging, including wheat, sugar beets, and many more. In comparison, only about four million crop acres are sprayed with neonics. Despite treated seeds accounting for a significant portion of neonicotinoid use, an EPA official involved in the analysis has stated the agency believes it's "safer than other uses" because they think pesticides are unlikely to transfer from planted seeds into the surrounding environment. And, although the EPA noted the possibility of "dust off" during planting (chemical particles coming off seeds) in the analysis, they did not "quantitatively assess it further." However, experts on the environmental impacts of neonic seed treatments estimate that treated seeds lose up to 95 percent of their pesticides to the surrounding ecosystem, including through seed abrasion and drift during planting. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has found neonicotinoids

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