Institute of Agriculture, The University of Tennessee , Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2014 Aug 19;48(16):9762-9. doi: 10.1021/es501657w. Epub 2014 Jul 23.
Research was done during 2012 to evaluate the potential exposure of pollinators to neonicotinoid insecticides used as seed treatments on corn, cotton, and soybean. Samples were collected from small plot evaluations of seed treatments and from commercial fields in agricultural production areas in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. In total, 560 samples were analyzed for concentrations of clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and their metabolites. These included pollen from corn and cotton, nectar from cotton, flowers from soybean, honey bees, Apis mellifera L., and pollen carried by foragers returning to hives, preplanting and in-season soil samples, and wild flowers adjacent to recently planted fields. Neonicotinoid insecticides were detected at a level of 1 ng/g or above in 23% of wild flower samples around recently planted fields, with an average detection level of about 10 ng/g. We detected neonicotinoid insecticides in the soil of production fields prior to planting at an average concentration of about 10 ng/g, and over 80% of the samples having some insecticide present. Only 5% of foraging honey bees tested positive for the presence of neonicotinoid insecticides, and there was only one trace detection (< 1 ng/g) in pollen being carried by those bees. Soybean flowers, cotton pollen, and cotton nectar contained little or no neonicotinoids resulting from insecticide seed treatments. Average levels of neonicotinoid insecticides in corn pollen ranged from less than 1 to 6 ng/g. The highest neonicotinoid concentrations were found in soil collected during early flowering from insecticide seed treatment trials. However, these levels were generally not well correlated with neonicotinoid concentrations in flowers, pollen, or nectar. Concentrations in flowering structures were well below defined levels of concern thought to cause acute mortality in honey bees. The potential implications of our findings are discussed.
2012 年开展了一项研究，以评估作为玉米、棉花和大豆种子处理剂使用的新烟碱类杀虫剂对传粉媒介的潜在暴露情况。从小面积种子处理评估和阿肯色州、密西西比州和田纳西州农业生产区的商业田块采集了样本。共分析了 560 个样本，以测定噻虫嗪、吡虫啉、噻虫胺及其代谢物的浓度。这些样本包括玉米和棉花的花粉、棉花的花蜜、大豆的花朵、蜜蜂（Apis mellifera L.）以及返回蜂巢的觅食蜂身上携带的花粉、播种前和季中土壤样本以及紧邻新播田块的野花。在最近种植田块周围的野花样本中，有 23%的样本中检测到新烟碱类杀虫剂，浓度水平为 1ng/g 或以上，平均检测水平约为 10ng/g。我们在种植前的生产田块土壤中检测到新烟碱类杀虫剂，平均浓度约为 10ng/g，超过 80%的样本中存在某种杀虫剂。只有 5%的觅食蜜蜂对新烟碱类杀虫剂的存在呈阳性反应，且这些蜜蜂携带的花粉中只有一次痕量检测（<1ng/g）。来自种子处理剂的杀虫剂对大豆花、棉花花粉和棉花花蜜中的新烟碱类杀虫剂含量影响很小或没有影响。玉米花粉中平均新烟碱类杀虫剂浓度范围为<1-6ng/g。在杀虫剂种子处理试验早期开花期间采集的土壤中发现了最高的新烟碱类浓度。然而，这些水平通常与花、花粉或花蜜中的新烟碱类浓度没有很好的相关性。开花结构中的浓度远低于被认为会导致蜜蜂急性死亡的关注水平。我们讨论了这些发现的潜在影响。
