By Derrick Broze

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has announced that they will eliminate the use of a class of insecticides which have been linked to negative effects on pollinator populations, including bees and butterflies.

After reviewing possible threats to honey bees, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has decided to end the use of neonicotinoid insecticides for its Ortho brand lawn and garden care products. The company said they are expanding their selection of non-neonicotinoid products and will completely end the use of neonicotinoid ingredients imidacloprid, clothianidin and dinotefuran by 2017.

“This decision comes after careful consideration regarding the range of possible threats to honey bees and other pollinators,” said Tim Martin, general manager of the Ortho brand. The Wall Street Journal reports that Scotts Miracle-Gro has partnered with the Pollinator Stewardship Council, a U.S. pollinator advocacy organization and supporter of more than 550 beekeepers throughout the country. The company is also seeking to pressure the government into allowing new labeling for pesticides without neonicotinoids.

The decision comes shortly after Maryland passed legislation banning the sale of neonicotinoids. The bill prohibits the retail sale and household use of neonicotinoid pesticides beginning in 2018, but would still allow commercial uses.

In January, the Environmental Protection Agency found that the neonicotinoids harm honey bees when used on cotton and citrus, but not on other crops like corn, berries and tobacco. The “neonics” are a class of pesticide that has previously been linked to declines in bee populations. Neonics were developed in 1991 and commercial use began in the mid-1990s. Around 2006, commercial beekeepers began reporting what is now known as colony collapse disorder — where entire colonies of bees die off with no obvious cause. The disorder has been reported in commercial colonies all over the world. Several studies have implicated neonics, which are used to kill insects harmful to crops.

Due to the controversy around these studies, the EPA decided to conduct four scientific risk assessments to examine the neonics and how they affect bees on a chronic long-term basis. The first report, released on Wednesday, was conducted by the EPA and California’s environmental agency and only studied the effects on the honey bee population. Nearly one-third of the human diet depends on insect-pollinated plants, with honey bees pollinating 80% of those crops.