federal agencies like the environmental protection agency are really supposed to be, um, mamanaging these insecticides in a way that causes minimal harm to humans and other animals. >> startining in the 1990s, agency scientists were raising red flags about the mobility, the persistence, the toxicity of these e neonic products, inluluding thehe effects on pollinators and other wildlife. >> epa documents show agency scientists knew imidacloprid is highly toxic to songbirds, aquatic invertebrates, and honeybees as early as 1993. yet epa allowed imidacloprid on the u.s. market a year later. after decades of expurure, the consesequences epa a scientistse warned about are now confirmed by the task force on systemic pesticides. >> and unfortunately, these chchemicals are often, and i wod say most of f the time, rereased beforee there is s adequate informatioto show whether they arare harmful inin the environo. i thinknk neonicotinonoids are a prime exexample of thahat. >> epa assesses risk posed by pesticides prior to their release on the market. safety studies are typically conducted and paid f