Legislation to restrict the use of dangerous chemicals that cause serious impacts to wildlife, the ecosystem and human health were among the bills vetted last week during a public hearing of the Environment Committee.
Residents, advocates and legislators testified last week in support of HB 6916 An Act Concerning the Use of Neonicotinoids and HB 6915 An Act Concerning the Use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides.
Neonicotinoids, sometimes referred to as “neonic’s” are pesticides that were banned for regular use in Connecticut in 2017, but are still available to commercial pest repellant and lawn care companies. Neonics are commonly used on lawns, golf courses, and sometimes in agriculture but their negative effects are many.
These chemicals are deadly to pollinators and insects necessary for the ecosystem to survive. They are also long-lasting chemicals that seep into water systems, affecting wildlife and causing serious impacts to human health including brain development and sperm count.
The legislation would restrict neonicotinoid use in most circumstances, unless used to manage structural pests and applied within one foot of the building’s foundation perimeter, or if the chemical is determined by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to be in appropriate use.
The committee is also taking a look at the use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs). These chemicals are used as pest repellants to control rodent populations. They interfere with blood clotting and cause death from excessive bleeding.
Environmental advocates consider this means of population control as not only inhumane and needlessly painful, but irresponsible as unintended targets like birds of prey are often poisoned when they eat an infected rodent. Second gen rodenticides are currently banned for regular use and are only allowed for commercial use, however they continue to have widespread effects on wildlife.
The bill would ban their use in many cases, but carve out exemptions for certain uses including food and alcoholic beverage production sites, food warehouses, sites that generate medical waste, or if directed by the Commissioner of Public Health.
Eleven states ban the use of neonicotinoids for residential use, California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. California is currently the only U.S. state to ban use of SGARs, and British Columbia has banned the use as well.
Critics of the legislation argue that banning these already regulated chemicals could lead to an unintended public health crisis if pest populations cannot be controlled, but no states that have enacted these bans have reported such conditions.
Sen. Christine Cohen, a Guilford Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said that protecting wildlife was a core tenet of good environmental stewardship.
“Rodenticides cause indefensibly painful wildlife deaths, either when ingested by an unintended target, or when an animal eats a rodent that has been poisoned,” Cohen said. “I am proud of the legislation that we have here today that carefully weighs the needs of the environment with the potential effects on the pest repellant industry. Neonicotinoids are also incredibly harmful insecticides that not only are destroying our ecosystems, but are seeping into our waterways and are linked to a host of human health complications.
“With the careful collaboration of many stakeholders and with our sights on a successful rollback of these dangerous chemicals in other states, I am hopeful that this is the year we get these important proposals across the finish line,” Cohen said.
According to testimony from Friends of Animals, A Place Called Hope, a birds of prey rehab center in Killingworth is up to 101 completed tests on killed birds and animals with 78 being positive for SGARs, including 5 bald eagles, 7 great horned owls, an endangered barn owl, and 56 hawks. Wildlife in Crisis in Weston, the largest wildlife rehab center in the state, estimates that at least 100 birds of prey and 40 foxes die in her care from SGARs annually.
