Silicone Wristbands as Passive Samplers in Honey Bee Hives

Abstract

<jats:p>The recent decline of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) has prompted a surge in research into their chemical environment, including chemicals produced by bees, as well as chemicals produced by plants and derived from human activity that bees also interact with. This study sought to develop a novel approach to passively sampling honey bee hives using silicone wristbands. Wristbands placed in hives for 24 h captured various compounds, including long-chain hydrocarbons, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, sugars, and sterols with wide ranging octanol–water partition coefficients (Kow) that varied by up to 19 orders of magnitude. Most of the compounds identified from the wristbands are known to be produced by bees or plants. This study indicates that silicone wristbands provide a simple, affordable, and passive method for sampling the chemical environment of honey bees.</jats:p>

Comparative Assessment of Pesticide Exposures in Domestic Dogs and Their Owners Using Silicone Passive Samplers and Biomonitoring

“…Silicone samplers are being used increasingly as passive monitoring devices for assessing multipollutant exposures in a variety of settings including occupational, − vulnerable populations (such as children − and pregnant women , ), pet cats and dogs, beehives, wild frogs, and their habitats . Furthermore, previous studies have demonstrated that chemicals measured on wristbands are significantly associated with human and canine exposure biomarkers, reinforcing their utility. ,,,,, Silicone wristbands are a useful tool for investigating personal exposures that occur via inhalation and through dermal routes .…”

Silicone wristbands as personal passive sampling devices: Current knowledge, recommendations for use, and future directions

“…Alternative configurations that have not been directly compared to the standard sampler (i.e., a wristband worn on a wrist) include wristbands worn as air samplers on participants with no dermal contact aside from brooches/lapels ( Aerts et al, 2018 ; Bullock et al, 2020 ; Mendoza-Sanchez et al, 2021 ; Swanson et al, 2018 ; Andersen et al, 2021 ), silicone military-style dog tags worn around the neck ( Poutasse et al, 2022 ; Poutasse et al, 2020 ), and pet tags ( Wise et al, 2020 ; Wise et al, 2021 ; Poutasse et al, 2019 ). Two studies have utilized PDMS tubing to create silicone wristbands and anklets, but these studies were not concerned with environmental chemical exposure ( Roodt et al, 2018 ; Wooding et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Silicone passive sampling devices have been used to assess exposure to numerous animals including frogs ( Swanson et al, 2018 ; Yaw et al, 2017 ), bee hives ( Bullock et al, 2020 ), horses ( Rivera, 2020 ), cats ( Poutasse et al, 2019 ), and dogs ( Wise et al, 2020 ; Wise et al, 2021 ). This opens up a door to utilize silicone passive samplers to assess chemical exposure and health outcomes in sentinel animals.…”

Evaluating predictive relationships between wristbands and urine for assessment of personal PAH exposure

“…Study participants can wear these samplers as a wristband, lapel, dog tag, or other configuration ( Dixon et al 2020 ; O'Connell et al 2014; Poutasse et al 2020 ). Since silicone wearables were first reported on in 2014, they have been used in over 30 exposure assessment studies and have been worn by thousands of people on six continents ( Bullock et al, 2020 , Craig et al, 2019 , De Vecchi et al, 2019 , Dixon et al, 2020 , Hammel et al, 2020 , Hendryx et al, 2020 , Reche et al, 2020 , Reddam et al, 2020 , Rohlman et al, 2019 ; Wang et al 2019a; Wang et al 2019b; Wise et al, 2020 , Zuy et al, 2020 ). Silicone wearables are passive sampling devices, which sequester the fraction of chemicals that are available to transport across cellular membranes ( Anderson and Hillwalker 2008 ; O'Connell et al 2014).…”