Andrea Ucini / Arte magazine / Seeds of Dead

Andrea Ucini was asked to illustrate this editorial for Arte magazin on the effects of neonics on seeds.

Seeds treated with neonics are not only effective in the field. The toxins are water-soluble, get into the groundwater, and when the seeds are spread, their dust is blown away by the wind. In this way, they contributed to the fact that the biomass of insects in Germany shrank by 76 percent from 1990 to 2017, as determined by the Entomological Society Krefeld. Worldwide, too, according to a 2018 study by the University of Sydney, populations of 41 percent of all insect species are declining dramatically. One-third are at risk of extinction.