- PARIS -- Europe's chemical
trade faces the prospect of many of its pesticides being banned in a row
over the death of French bees.
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- Pesticides are used to impregnate seeds for plants such
as maize and sunflowers. These chemicals are then slowly released, protecting
plants from insect attacks. The pesticide - sold under a variety of names
including Regent TS, Gaucho, Shuss, Jumper and Zoom - attacks insects by
destroying their sense of direction and should disappear as the treated
plants grow.
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- But almost immediately after the chemicals were introduced
10 years ago, beekeepers reported that their bees were becoming disoriented
and dying, Within a few years honey production in south-west France fell
by 60 per cent. According to the chairman of the national beekeepers' association,
Jean-Marie Sirvins, a third of the country's 1.5 million registered hives
disappeared. As a result, France has had to import up to 24,000 tons of
honey annually.
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- The pesticide companies - which include major chemical
firms such as BASF and Bayer - claimed the deaths were the result of a
bee illness. Emmanuel Butstraen, head of the French branch of the German
multinational BASF, said its product, Regent TS, had been cleared for use
by other European countries. 'The product had no effect on the mortality
of bees,' he said.
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- But keepers claim that up 90 billion bees have died and
that cases of cancers in humans may be linked to pesticide use. An investigation
has now been launched by a French court.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,11882,1158826,00.html
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