Member states of the European Union are required to ensure the initiation of monitoring programs to verify honey bee exposure to pesticides, where and as appropriate. Based on 620 samples of dead honey bees—42 of pollen, 183 of honey and 32 of vegetables—we highlighted the presence, as analyzed by liquid and gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric detection, of many active substances, mainly tau-fluvalinate, piperonyl butoxide, chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl, permethrin and imidacloprid. Among the active substances found in analyzed matrices linked to honey bee killing incidents, 38 belong to hazard classes I and II, as methiocarb, methomyl, chlorpyrifos, cypermethrin and permethrin, thus representing a potential risk for human health. We have shown that, at different times between 2015 and 2020, during implementation of the Italian national guidelines for managing reports of bee colony mortality or depopulation associated with pesticide use, pesticide pollution events occurred that could raise concern for human health. Competent authorities could, as part of a One Health approach, exploit the information provided by existing reporting programs on honey bees and their products, in view of the close correlation to human health, animal health and ecosystem health.
Honeybee health can be compromised not only by infectious and infesting diseases, but also by the acute or chronic action of certain pesticides. In recent years, there have been numerous reports of colony mortality by Italian beekeepers, but the investigations of these losses have been inconsistent, both in relation to the type of personnel involved (beekeepers, official veterinarians, members of the police force, etc.) and the procedures utilized. It was therefore deemed necessary to draw up national guidelines with the aim of standardizing sampling active ties. In this paper, we present the results of a survey carried out in Italy from 2015 to 2019, following these guidelines. Residues of 150 pesticides in 696 samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS. On average, 50% of the honeybee samples were positive for one or more pesticides with an average of 2 different pesticides per sample and a maximum of seven active ingredients, some of which had been banned in Europe or were not authorized in Italy. Insecticides were the most frequently detected, mainly belonging to the pyrethroid group (49%, above all tau-fluvalinate), followed by organophosphates (chlorpyrifos, 18%) and neonicotinoids (imidacloprid, 7%). This work provides further evidence of the possible relationship between complex pesticide exposure and honeybee mortality and/or depopulation of hives.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the quality of 36 samples of different honey type supplied by local producers from Algeria in order to verify its compliance with the standards of Codex Alimentarius and European Union (EU). For that, five physicochemical parameters were analyzed using the HPLC method: hydroxyl-methyl furfural (HMF), sugars, diastase activity and search of antibiotic contamination with streptomycin and tetracycline. The physicochemical analyses of the Algerian honeys show that 56% of samples correspond to Codex standards and 44% not in conformity with the standards required by the Codex Alimentarius and EU, because part of the samples had one or more defects. The percentage not in conformity was due to the high rates of hydroxyl-methyl furfural, sucrose and also to the low enzyme level. Analysis performed by the laboratory to detect residues of tetracycline and streptomycin in honey have revealed insignificant traces of oxytetracycline in two samples of honey (0.03 ppb). From the present study, it is observed that the Algerian honey samples is not completely in agreement with the requirements of international honey standards which could be caused by inappropriate actions during processing and storage steps.
Since the work by Radetzski et al. (1994) on the use of oxalic acid for controlling varroosis, several reports have been published proving the efficacy and tolerability of this organic acid when applied to honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) by spraying or trickling. Tests were carried out by spraying water-diluted oxalic acid (Nanetti et al., 1995) or trickling a solution of oxalic acid, water and sugar (Imdorf et al., 1997;Mutinelli et al., 1997;Nanetti and Stradi, 1997) into colonies during broodless periods. Oxalic acid, water and sugar solutions and the water-diluted oxalic acid (Highes et al., 1999) have occasionally been considered responsible for honeybee losses after treatment, and no data are currently available on their long-term stability. Since such solutions are widely used by beekeepers for controlling varroosis in broodless periods, our aim was to evaluate the characteristics and stability of a homemade oxalic acid, water and sugar solution in various storage conditions, in order to detect modifications of the active ingredients possibly related to toxicity towards honeybees. The homemade oxalic acid/water/sugar solution (OAWS) prepared in the laboratory for the present study is the same as that used for treating beehives against varroosis. It is composed of 100 g oxalic acid dihydrate (Sigma), 1000 g commercial sugar and 1 000 ml drinkable water. The characteristics of water were as follows: pH 7.5, solids 320 mg . L -1 , hardness 27.1 °F, chloride 8.0 mg . L -1 , nitrate 17.5 mg . L -1 , sulphate 21.5 mg . L -1 , iron 5 µg . L -1 . The density of the final solution is 1.236 g . L -1 and the concentration of oxalic acid is 4.2% (0.467 Mol).This solution was stored in 10-ml tubes at various conditions: -20 °C, +4 °C and room temperature (RT) in the dark and in the light. The solution was tested for the following parameters immediately after its preparation: oxalic acid, colour, pH, hydroxymethylfurfural and sugars. The same parameters were determined at 3, 7, 15 and 30 days, and at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 16 months after preparation for each storage condition. Oxalic acid was determined using a commercially available kit (Oxalate Sigma Diagnostics kit, Cat. N. 591-D) adapted for honey (Mutinelli et al., 1997). The colour of the OAWS solution was examined by means of a 2000 Comparator (Lovibond) used for honey colour determination. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was determined using reverse-phase HPLC equipped with UV detection (Jeuring et al., 1980). Sugars were determined by an HPLC method using a pulsed amperometric detection. This study demonstrated that the concentration of oxalic acid and pH of an OAWS solution topically applied for varroosis control remains constant in all tested storage conditions and over a long period of time, as opposed to changes affecting other parameters (Tab. I). Colour changes observed in samples stored at RT were related to the numerous possible condensation reactions (Maillard reaction), which produce many polycyclic compounds absorbing light in the visible region. The ...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.