It’s Time for Colorado to Fix Its Neonic Pesticide Problem

For too long, Colorado farmers have been paying for harmful pesticides they don’t need—and this broken market won’t fix itself. That’s why the state needs SB26-065, or the Strengthening Economic and Environmental Decisions (SEED) Act, a bill that will make sure farmers can get field crop seed without unnecessary chemicals and protect Coloradans’ health and ecosystems.

Many field crop seeds planted in Colorado are automatically coated with harmful insecticide seed treatments like neonicotinoids (neonics). These neurotoxic pesticides threaten children’s health, contaminate water, and kill vital pollinators. They are the most widely used insecticides in U.S. history and among the most lethal to bees and other beneficial insects—but nearly all of their use is needless.

The SEED Act would ensure these harmful insecticide seed treatments are used only when they are actually needed. This approach—which has successfully reduced dangerous pesticide pollution in Quebec—preserves farmers’ flexibility to use these tools when pest pressure justifies it. This also helps them opt out when the risks outweigh the benefits, as is usually the case. 

Wasteful use of neonic seed treatments pollutes Colorado’s environment and water supplies

Right now, neonic seed treatments are the default option for major field crops like corn—possibly because a few multinational companies profit from selling them—but certainly not because they’re effective. Research shows that for corn, which covers more than one million acres in Colorado, neonic seed treatments typically provide no economic benefit to farmers. In fact, they can actually harm farm output by undermining soil health and killing beneficial insects that control pests and boost yields.

Seed treatments also pollute entire landscapes. Only 2–5 percent of a neonic seed treatment makes it into the target plant, leaving the other 95-plus percent in the soil. And those chemicals don’t stay put. Neonics spread easily across landscapes with rainwater and irrigation, contaminating other soil, plants, and water supplies.

A recent report found neonics in Colorado groundwater and surface water, sometimes at concentrations 100 times above levels that are known to harm aquatic life. Although use of treated seed is largely unregulated due to legal loopholes, past use data tell us that unnecessary seed treatments are the likely culprit for most of that contamination.

The costs of needless neonic use continue to add up

Neonics may be the most ecologically destructive insecticides since DDT, and the evidence of risks to human health from neonics is also growing. Continued mass use of unnecessary neonic seed treatments spells disaster for Colorado’s ecosystems and food systems and also poses risks for the health of Coloradans, especially children: 

• Neonics threaten children’s development and Coloradans’ health generally. Neonics contaminate Coloradan’s everyday lives and have been found in the bodies of more than 95 percent of pregnant women tested nationwide. Exposures to neonics in the womb are linked to birth defects of the heart and brain and cognitive impairment in children. In adults, studies connect neonics with lower testosterone, semen quality, and sperm count, as well as adverse pregnancy outcomes.
• Neonics wipe out pollinators essential to Colorado agriculture and ecosystems. These pesticides are toxic to bees in extraordinarily small amounts and, even at lower levels, can impact bees’ immune system, navigation, memory, and other functions that are critical to their survival and reproduction. Pollinators are critical to the production of hundreds of millions of dollars of Colorado crops, including Palisade peaches, Rocky Ford cantaloupes, beans, sunflowers, and alfalfa.
• Neonics hollow out ecosystems. Because of their extreme toxicity, neonics wipe out the insects and other creatures that many species depend on for food. These include migratory birds, game birds, and fish that support Colorado’s $17.2 billion outdoor recreation industry. Studies also indicate that neonics directly kill or interfere with development and survival in many of these species. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts that neonics are likely driving an astonishing 200-plus species toward extinction, which may be just the tip of the iceberg. 

The SEED Act’s successful model

With mounting evidence that neonic problems are steadily worsening, it’s time for Colorado to join states like New York and Vermont and Canadian provinces like Quebec and Ontario that have adopted programs to curb harmful and unnecessary neonic use. Quebec has operated a need-based use program like that proposed in the SEED Act since 2019. During that time, neonic seed treatments on corn seed have dropped from near universal to near zero. Neonic pollution of waterways has been significantly reduced, without any associated crop loss or switching to more harmful alternatives. And the market has shifted to meet the demand for seed without neonics, so farmers can easily find the seed they need. Now Colorado has the opportunity to build on this proven model and protect its wildlife, farmers, and future generations. Urge your legislator to support the SEED Act!