Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.

Recently, the widespread distribution of pesticides detected in the hive has raised serious concerns about pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health. A larval rearing method was adapted to assess the chronic oral toxicity to honey bee larvae of the four most common pesticides detect...

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Main Authors: Wanyi Zhu, Daniel R Schmehl, Christopher A Mullin, James L Frazier
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3885384?pdf=render
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author Wanyi Zhu
Daniel R Schmehl
Christopher A Mullin
James L Frazier
author_facet Wanyi Zhu
Daniel R Schmehl
Christopher A Mullin
James L Frazier
author_sort Wanyi Zhu
collection DOAJ
description Recently, the widespread distribution of pesticides detected in the hive has raised serious concerns about pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health. A larval rearing method was adapted to assess the chronic oral toxicity to honey bee larvae of the four most common pesticides detected in pollen and wax--fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorothalonil, and chloropyrifos--tested alone and in all combinations. All pesticides at hive-residue levels triggered a significant increase in larval mortality compared to untreated larvae by over two fold, with a strong increase after 3 days of exposure. Among these four pesticides, honey bee larvae were most sensitive to chlorothalonil compared to adults. Synergistic toxicity was observed in the binary mixture of chlorothalonil with fluvalinate at the concentrations of 34 mg/L and 3 mg/L, respectively; whereas, when diluted by 10 fold, the interaction switched to antagonism. Chlorothalonil at 34 mg/L was also found to synergize the miticide coumaphos at 8 mg/L. The addition of coumaphos significantly reduced the toxicity of the fluvalinate and chlorothalonil mixture, the only significant non-additive effect in all tested ternary mixtures. We also tested the common 'inert' ingredient N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at seven concentrations, and documented its high toxicity to larval bees. We have shown that chronic dietary exposure to a fungicide, pesticide mixtures, and a formulation solvent have the potential to impact honey bee populations, and warrants further investigation. We suggest that pesticide mixtures in pollen be evaluated by adding their toxicities together, until complete data on interactions can be accumulated.
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spelling doaj.art-06914ed648ea4eccbea1eb5eb37003c12022-12-22T01:14:10ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0191e7754710.1371/journal.pone.0077547Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.Wanyi ZhuDaniel R SchmehlChristopher A MullinJames L FrazierRecently, the widespread distribution of pesticides detected in the hive has raised serious concerns about pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) health. A larval rearing method was adapted to assess the chronic oral toxicity to honey bee larvae of the four most common pesticides detected in pollen and wax--fluvalinate, coumaphos, chlorothalonil, and chloropyrifos--tested alone and in all combinations. All pesticides at hive-residue levels triggered a significant increase in larval mortality compared to untreated larvae by over two fold, with a strong increase after 3 days of exposure. Among these four pesticides, honey bee larvae were most sensitive to chlorothalonil compared to adults. Synergistic toxicity was observed in the binary mixture of chlorothalonil with fluvalinate at the concentrations of 34 mg/L and 3 mg/L, respectively; whereas, when diluted by 10 fold, the interaction switched to antagonism. Chlorothalonil at 34 mg/L was also found to synergize the miticide coumaphos at 8 mg/L. The addition of coumaphos significantly reduced the toxicity of the fluvalinate and chlorothalonil mixture, the only significant non-additive effect in all tested ternary mixtures. We also tested the common 'inert' ingredient N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at seven concentrations, and documented its high toxicity to larval bees. We have shown that chronic dietary exposure to a fungicide, pesticide mixtures, and a formulation solvent have the potential to impact honey bee populations, and warrants further investigation. We suggest that pesticide mixtures in pollen be evaluated by adding their toxicities together, until complete data on interactions can be accumulated.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3885384?pdf=render
spellingShingle Wanyi Zhu
Daniel R Schmehl
Christopher A Mullin
James L Frazier
Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
PLoS ONE
title Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
title_full Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
title_fullStr Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
title_full_unstemmed Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
title_short Four common pesticides, their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae.
title_sort four common pesticides their mixtures and a formulation solvent in the hive environment have high oral toxicity to honey bee larvae
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3885384?pdf=render
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