Bayer points to lack of data in bee deaths

Pair defends pesticides

Bayer CropScience officials are rejecting claims that some of the company's pesticides played a role in the disappearance of millions of U.S. honeybees.

The phenomenon, which researchers have called colony collapse disorder, is threatening about $15 billion worth of U.S. crops that are typically pollinated by bees. Scientists are looking at viruses, parasites and other factors that might harm bees, but they haven't determined a cause.

Environmental and consumer advocates in Germany and the U.S. blame pesticides, particularly Bayer CropScience's clothianidin.

John Boyne, a spokesman at Bayer CropScience's U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, said no data exist linking clothianidin or related pesticides to colony collapse disorder.

"We're supremely confident that when used according to directions, they will not harm bees," spokesman Greg Coffey added.

Coffey and Boyne visited The News & Observer on Wednesday to emphasize that insecticides do not cause colony collapse disorder. They worry that Bayer's image is being tarnished in the eyes of employees and customers. "Protecting the reputation of Bayer is what we do," Boyne said.

Bayer CropScience employs about 19,000 people, 450 in RTP. Clothianidin and its older relative, imidacloprid, accounted for $1 billion in sales last year.

Concerns that pesticides are affecting honeybees' health have been around for years. French regulators banned imidacloprid in 1999. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved clothianidin in 2003, but only if Bayer CropScience submitted additional data.

The concerns gained urgency in May, when more than 11,000 German honeybee hives were poisoned by clothianidin. German regulators banned some uses of the pesticide.

The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 19 accusing the EPA of hiding Bayer CropScience's clothianidin data. Coalition Against Bayer Dangers filed a complaint in Germany on Aug. 13, alleging that the company knowingly polluted the environment.

Bayer CropScience denies any wrongdoing, isn't hiding any information about clothianidin and has never altered data related to honeybee health, Boyne said.