Vermont just became the second U.S. state (after New York) to ban neonicotinoids, also known as neonics, a particularly harmful type of pesticide, EcoWatch reported.
Although Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, initially vetoed the bill that would ban the pesticide, the Vermont state legislature overrode that veto. The ban is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2029.
Neonics, a common type of neurotoxic insecticides, are particularly harmful to pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The overuse of these chemicals has had devastating consequences for pollinator populations and for the overall health of ecosystems, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The highly potent neonic pesticides … have made U.S. agriculture nearly 50 times more toxic to insect life since their introduction [in the 1990s]," the organization wrote.
The NRDC went on to explain that every conventional corn seed planted in the United States currently has enough neonics coating it to kill a quarter of a million bees, with more than 95% of that coating leaching off into the environment, where it contaminates soil, water, plant life, and wildlife.
Vermont will still allow the use of neonics but will require farmers to get written exemptions from agronomists to qualify for them.
Four other states — Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, and Washington — are considering legislation that would limit the use of neonics, according to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. The pesticide class has been mostly banned in Europe since 2018, although the European Union still exports more than 11,000 tons of the toxic substance per year to countries where it is not banned, according to Greenpeace.
In other good news concerning the banning of pesticides, the Environmental Protection Agency recently issued an emergency order suspending the use of a weedkiller that can pose serious health risks to unborn babies, the first such move it has made in 40 years.
Although some toxic pesticides do provide benefits to farmers, research has shown that the widespread problems they cause to the environment and to human health greatly outweigh those benefits. Whenever you are working on your home garden, it is advisable to avoid toxic chemicals wherever possible.
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