The influence of recent Brazilian policy and legislation on increasing bee mortality

Abstract

The decline in bee communities in recent years has been a major concern worldwide. The increase in the mortality of these pollinators is related to several factors, the main one being the intensive use of pesticides in agricultural crops. Brazil is the world leader in use of pesticides since 2008 and recent changes in legislation have facilitated the commercialization of certain pesticides whose marketing has been banned in several countries. This review addresses how current Brazilian legislation on agrochemicals has influenced the increase in bee mortality. Under the current federal government, in 2019 and 2020, 474 and 493 new pesticides were registered in the country, respectively, some of them classified as highly toxic to bees. In addition, public policies in Brazil led by certain sectors of agribusiness have also contributed to increase the number of threats and the mortality of bees, making it difficult for the beekeeping sector to act in opposition. Understanding how these policies directly affect pollinator conservation allows decision-making to help mitigate their environmental and economic impacts in Brazil. Otherwise, without effective actions to mitigate the abusive use of pesticides, the numerous studies demonstrating its direct impacts on the bee’s survival will be of no use.

Análise de tipificação e adulteração de méis brasileiros: uma revisão sistemática de 2010 a 2020

“…In general, spectroscopy techniques have been mostly applied for metal detection, while gas and liquid chromatography stand out in the detection of pesticides. Interestingly, Brazil is the largest consumer of pesticides worldwide since 2008, what has led not only to an increase in bee mortality, but also to the contamination of bee products (Nunes et al, 2021).…”

“…Currently, PCRM determines some antimicrobial analytes, halogenated and organochlorine compounds, carbamates and pyrethroids, organophosphates, and inorganic contaminants (Brazil, 1999;Brazil, 2014). However, considering the excessive use of pesticides and the rampant release, especially in the last 4 years in the country, the number of analyzed compounds has been lower than the annual release of new molecules (Nunes et al, 2021;Brazil, 2022).…”

Pesticide effects on the abundance of springtails and mites in field mesocosms at an agricultural site

“…Although imidacloprid from 2018 is restricted from use in agriculture in the EU, it is still used in indoor greenhouses (EFSA, 2016 ) and in veterinary medicine (Wells and Collins, 2022 ). Imidacloprid is also still widely used in other parts of the world (e.g., Nunes et al, 2021 ; US EPA, 2020 ). It is highly effective against a wide array of herbivorous insects, has low toxicity to vertebrates, and its high persistence and mobility (Bonmatin et al, 2015 ; Zhang et al, 2018 ) make it suitable for seed dressing applications (Jeschke et al, 2011 ).…”