Question:
What is Clothianidin?
The short answer is:
Clothianidin is a neonicotinoid insecticide that has been found to be toxic to bees.
Below is a summary of key Clothianidin characteristics. The
information was compiled Dr Rosemary Mason. She said:
"I have put together on a single page, the relevant sections of the US Environmental Protection Agency conditional registration document for clothianidin coated on corn and canola (oil seed rape) granted in 2003 to Bayer. (The Australian APVMA is very similar.)"
She goes on to suggest I include the information on this website. Thank you Dr Mason!
Name of Chemical: Clothianidin
Reason for Issuance: Conditional Registration
Date Issued: May 30, 2003
| STUDY TYPE | HALF LIFE/OTHER |
| Hydrolysis | Stable |
| Photolysis in Water | Less than 1 day |
| Hydrolysis | Stable |
| Photolysis on Soil | 34 days |
| Aerobic Soil Metabolism | 148-1,155 days |
| Anaerobic Aquatic Metabolism | 27 days |
| Mobility-Leaching | Mobile to highly mobile |
| Terrestrial Field Dissipation | 277 days to 1,386 days in the 0-15 cm soil depth;Generally not detected below the 45 cm soil depth |
Potential to Contaminate Groundwater
Based on
laboratory and field studies, the available data on clothianidin show
that the compound is persistent and mobile, stable to hydrolysis, and
has potential to leach to ground water and be transported via runoff to
surface water bodies.
Terrestrial
Clothianidin
is practically non-toxic to the bobwhite quail on an acute basis (LD50
> 2000 mg/kg) and practically non-toxic to the mallard duck and the
bobwhite quail on a sub-acute basis (5-day LC50 > 5040 ppm and 5230
ppm, respectively). However, exposure to treated seeds through ingestion
may result in chronic toxic risk to birds (exposure of 525 ppm
adversely affected eggshell thickness for Bobwhite quail).
Clothianidin
is moderately toxic to small mammals on an acute oral basis (LD50 >
389 mg/kg). Chronic exposure to treated seeds through ingestion may
result in reproductive and/or developmental effects.
Clothianidin
is highly toxic to honey bees on an acute contact basis (LD50 >
0.0439 μg/bee). It has the potential for toxic chronic exposure to honey
bees, as well as other nontarget pollinators, through the translocation
of clothianidin residues in nectar and pollen.
In honey bees, the
effects of this toxic chronic exposure may include lethal and/or
sub-lethal effects in the larvae and reproductive effects in the queen.
However,
due to evidence of effects on the rat immune system and that juvenile
rats appear to be more susceptible to these effects, and due to the lack
of a developmental immunotoxicity study, a 10X database uncertainty
factor is applied to all dietary exposure endpoints.
Toxicology:
• Developmental immunotoxicity study
• Additional analysis of test materials used in mutagenicity studies Residue Chemistry:
• Rotational crop residue field trials with mature soybeans
Environmental Fate Data:
• Aerobic aquatic metabolism
• Seed leaching study Ecological Effects Data:
• Whole sediment acute toxicity to freshwater invertebrates
• Field test for pollinators