Reducing damages from sulfoxaflor use through mitigation measures to increase the protection of pollinator species

The demise of pollinator species due to the increased use of insecticides and other factors is leading to declines in crop yields. In regulating insecticides, governments may preclude usage if it poses an unreasonable risk to the environment taking into account the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of its use. To meet this requirement, the registration of an insecticide often includes mitigation measures to reduce the adverse effects of its use. For the registration of sulfoxaflor in the United States, a systemic insecticide used on hundreds of crops, four mitigation measures were recommended to reduce the risk of harm to pollinator species. Yet, given the importance of pollination to food crops, governments may need to take additional steps and adopt a greater variety of measures. Through a comparison of three regulatory options for use of insecticides, we show that it may be advantageous to mitigate harm to pollinators.