By The Canadian Press

Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency proposes limiting the use of two pesticides

Jan 9, 2018 | 1:39 PM

OTTAWA – Canada doesn’t want to issue a blanket ban on certain pesticides even though environmental groups say they are killing everything from honey bees to earthworms.

Instead, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency is proposing limiting the use of two pesticides, and adding more warning labels to the bottles.

The chemicals, sometimes called neonics, are nicotine-based pesticides commonly used by farmers to help keep everything from field crops to fruit orchards free of pests like aphids, spider mites and stink bugs.

The agency has been researching them since 2012, after widespread reports of honey bee deaths led scientists to believe neonics were one of the culprits.

In 2016, Health Canada decided one of the three main neonics should be banned almost entirely because it was building up to toxic levels in surface and groundwater.

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Yesterday’s decision affects the other two (called clothianidin and thiamethoxam).

The proposal is to phase out their use as direct application to the leaves of certain crops and on municipal and residential lawns, but allow their use to pre-treat seeds before planting.

Beatrice Olivastri, C-E-O of Friends of the Earth Canada, called the proposals “a dog’s breakfast of measures.”