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Britain exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides last year, investigation reveals
A bee collecting pollen in the city of Bristol

BRITAIN exported 8,500 tonnes of banned pesticides in 2023, an investigation revealed today.

Greenpeace’s investigative unit, Unearthed, and the NGO Public Eye discovered that the volume of neonicotinoid thiamethoxam, a toxic insecticide that destroys bees’ nervous systems, was so large that it could cover the whole of England.

The weedkiller diquat accounted for 60 per cent of the total exports.

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