High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health.
BACKGROUND: Recent declines in honey bees for crop pollination threaten fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States. A broad survey of pesticide residues was conducted on samples from migratory and other beekeepers across 23 states, one Canadian province and several agricultural c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2841636?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818933325759250432 |
|---|---|
| author | Christopher A Mullin Maryann Frazier James L Frazier Sara Ashcraft Roger Simonds Dennis Vanengelsdorp Jeffery S Pettis |
| author_facet | Christopher A Mullin Maryann Frazier James L Frazier Sara Ashcraft Roger Simonds Dennis Vanengelsdorp Jeffery S Pettis |
| author_sort | Christopher A Mullin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BACKGROUND: Recent declines in honey bees for crop pollination threaten fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States. A broad survey of pesticide residues was conducted on samples from migratory and other beekeepers across 23 states, one Canadian province and several agricultural cropping systems during the 2007-08 growing seasons. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have used LC/MS-MS and GC/MS to analyze bees and hive matrices for pesticide residues utilizing a modified QuEChERS method. We have found 121 different pesticides and metabolites within 887 wax, pollen, bee and associated hive samples. Almost 60% of the 259 wax and 350 pollen samples contained at least one systemic pesticide, and over 47% had both in-hive acaricides fluvalinate and coumaphos, and chlorothalonil, a widely-used fungicide. In bee pollen were found chlorothalonil at levels up to 99 ppm and the insecticides aldicarb, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid, fungicides boscalid, captan and myclobutanil, and herbicide pendimethalin at 1 ppm levels. Almost all comb and foundation wax samples (98%) were contaminated with up to 204 and 94 ppm, respectively, of fluvalinate and coumaphos, and lower amounts of amitraz degradates and chlorothalonil, with an average of 6 pesticide detections per sample and a high of 39. There were fewer pesticides found in adults and brood except for those linked with bee kills by permethrin (20 ppm) and fipronil (3.1 ppm). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The 98 pesticides and metabolites detected in mixtures up to 214 ppm in bee pollen alone represents a remarkably high level for toxicants in the brood and adult food of this primary pollinator. This represents over half of the maximum individual pesticide incidences ever reported for apiaries. While exposure to many of these neurotoxicants elicits acute and sublethal reductions in honey bee fitness, the effects of these materials in combinations and their direct association with CCD or declining bee health remains to be determined. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T04:46:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-eb3a02d16a6940f48fb633ca03fa1f76 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T04:46:36Z |
| publishDate | 2010-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-eb3a02d16a6940f48fb633ca03fa1f762022-12-21T19:52:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-0153e975410.1371/journal.pone.0009754High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health.Christopher A MullinMaryann FrazierJames L FrazierSara AshcraftRoger SimondsDennis VanengelsdorpJeffery S PettisBACKGROUND: Recent declines in honey bees for crop pollination threaten fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States. A broad survey of pesticide residues was conducted on samples from migratory and other beekeepers across 23 states, one Canadian province and several agricultural cropping systems during the 2007-08 growing seasons. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have used LC/MS-MS and GC/MS to analyze bees and hive matrices for pesticide residues utilizing a modified QuEChERS method. We have found 121 different pesticides and metabolites within 887 wax, pollen, bee and associated hive samples. Almost 60% of the 259 wax and 350 pollen samples contained at least one systemic pesticide, and over 47% had both in-hive acaricides fluvalinate and coumaphos, and chlorothalonil, a widely-used fungicide. In bee pollen were found chlorothalonil at levels up to 99 ppm and the insecticides aldicarb, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos and imidacloprid, fungicides boscalid, captan and myclobutanil, and herbicide pendimethalin at 1 ppm levels. Almost all comb and foundation wax samples (98%) were contaminated with up to 204 and 94 ppm, respectively, of fluvalinate and coumaphos, and lower amounts of amitraz degradates and chlorothalonil, with an average of 6 pesticide detections per sample and a high of 39. There were fewer pesticides found in adults and brood except for those linked with bee kills by permethrin (20 ppm) and fipronil (3.1 ppm). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The 98 pesticides and metabolites detected in mixtures up to 214 ppm in bee pollen alone represents a remarkably high level for toxicants in the brood and adult food of this primary pollinator. This represents over half of the maximum individual pesticide incidences ever reported for apiaries. While exposure to many of these neurotoxicants elicits acute and sublethal reductions in honey bee fitness, the effects of these materials in combinations and their direct association with CCD or declining bee health remains to be determined.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2841636?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Christopher A Mullin Maryann Frazier James L Frazier Sara Ashcraft Roger Simonds Dennis Vanengelsdorp Jeffery S Pettis High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. PLoS ONE |
| title | High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. |
| title_full | High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. |
| title_fullStr | High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. |
| title_full_unstemmed | High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. |
| title_short | High levels of miticides and agrochemicals in North American apiaries: implications for honey bee health. |
| title_sort | high levels of miticides and agrochemicals in north american apiaries implications for honey bee health |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2841636?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopheramullin highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT maryannfrazier highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT jameslfrazier highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT saraashcraft highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT rogersimonds highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT dennisvanengelsdorp highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth AT jefferyspettis highlevelsofmiticidesandagrochemicalsinnorthamericanapiariesimplicationsforhoneybeehealth |