Neonicotinoid & Pyrazole Insecticides
Neonicotinoid pesticides have received increasing attention in the mainstream press as a possible cause of colony collapse disorder (CCD) in honeybees, which are crucial pollinators in many agricultural environments where their viability enables billions of dollars of agricultural commerce each year. While CCD may also have other causes, such as parasitism by the aptly named Varroa destructor mite, immunodeficiencies brought on by over-reliance on monoculture environments, and pesticides belonging to other chemical classes, it is likely that a combination of factors is responsible for the dramatic collapse. Analytical chemists have focused on neonicotinoid pesticides as a potential contributing factor. Cambridge Isotope Laboratories, Inc. (CIL) continues to offer many isotopically labeled and native neonicotinoid standards and has recently added several metabolite standards, as the focus expands to studying exposure effects and metabolic pathways of the parent compounds.
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