In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature amended Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 18B.09 to allow cities of the first class to enact an ordinance, which may include penalty and enforcement provisions, that prohibits a person from applying or using a pollinator-lethal pesticide within the geographic boundaries of the city, with certain exemptions outlined in law. For the purposes of this law, pollinator lethal pesticide is defined as “a pesticide that has a pollinator protection box on the label or labeling or a pollinator, bee, or honey bee precautionary statement in the environmental hazards section of the label or labeling.”
Required under the new law the Commissioner of Agriculture must maintain a list of pollinator-lethal pesticides on the department's website. There are thousands of pesticide products registered in Minnesota, and product registrations change every year. As the MDA continues to screen product labels for this language the list will be updated and expanded.
The Pesticide Application in Cities statute (Minn. Stat. Chapter 18B.09) exempts certain types of pesticides from prohibition, such as pet care products and personal care products for lice and bedbugs. Products that fall under exempted categories are not included on this list, even if they may be pollinator lethal pesticides.
Current List of Pollinator Lethal Pesticides
Currently the list reflects all products containing the following active ingredients that are registered in Minnesota: afidopyropen, abamectin, alpha-cypermethrin, acephate, acetamiprid, avermectin, azadirachtin, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747, Bacillus subtilis strain RTI477, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus velezensis strain RTI301, Beauveria bassiana, Beauveria bassiana strain ANT-04, Beauveria bassiana strain GHA, beta-cyfluthrin, bifenazate, befenthrin, broflanilide, canola oil, carbaryl, chlorantraniliprole, chlorfenapyr, Chromobacterium sebustugae strain PRAA4-1, clarified hydrophobic extract of neem oil, clothianidin, cyantraniliprole, cyclaniliprole, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, cyromazine, deltamethrin, diazinon, dichlorvos, diflubenzuron, dimethoate, dinotefuran, emamectin benzoate, esfenvalerate, ethoprop, fenazaquin, fenpropathrin, fenpyroximate, fipronil, flonicamid, flupyradifurone, gamma-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, indoxacarb, lambda-cyhalothrin, malathion, methiocarb, methomyl, methoxyfenozide, novaluron, oxamyl, Paecilomyces fumosoroseus apopka strain 97, permethrin, phenothrin, phorate, phosmet, prallethrin, pymetrozine, pyrethrins, pyridaben, pyrifluquinazon, pyriproxyfen, sabadilla alkaloids, spinosad, spirodiclofen, spiromesifen, spirotetramat, sulfoxaflor, sulfur, tau-fluvalinate, tetramethrin, tetraniliprole, terbufos, tolfenpyrad, thiamethoxam, and zeta-cypermethrin.
The current list of pollinator lethal pesticide products registered in Minnesota can be found under "Forms + Resources". This list is subject to change. To be sure you view the most recent updates, please bookmark this webpage, not the PDF. The link to the most recent PDF will change each time it is updated.
The Pollinator Lethal Pesticide list was last updated December 6, 2023.
