Tell the EPA: Close the pesticide-coated seeds loophole

Dear EPA Administrator Michael Regan,

Currently, the EPA doesn’t consider pesticides coated on seeds as pesticides. This loophole is a huge oversight and ignores the unique impacts of pesticide-coated seeds on the environment.

Neonicotinoid-coated seeds are especially harmful to bees and other pollinators. Only about 5% of neonicotinoids are taken up by the seed itself.

Instead, the pesticide rubs off the seeds during planting and creates toxic dust clouds that can drift onto nearby bee habitat, killing bees that fly into its path. The pesticide can also leach into the soil and groundwater. Many wild bees make nests in the ground and could be affected by this contamination.

Bees are dying and many bee species are being pushed to extinction. Until you close this loophole, neonicotinoids will largely go unchecked, contaminating fields all over the country and poisoning more and more bees.