Pesticide residues in ornamental plants marketed as bee friendly: Levels in flowers, leaves, roots and soil

Abstract

Ornamental plants rich in pollen and nectar are often marketed as “pollinator-friendly” by flower retailers. However, even though the plants are attractive from a foraging perspective, i.e pollen and nectar rich, bees and other pollinating insects could be at risk from exposure of pesticide residues on the plants or from pesticide used during production. Pesticides used in ornamental plant production could lead to environmental emissions both during cultivation, at retailer displays and when planted in gardens by the consumers. This study aims to investigate what pesticides that are used in the production of perennial ornamental plants sold in Sweden and if the residues could pose a risk for wild pollinators. We analyze an array of 536 pesticides in whole flowers, leaves, roots and soil of 54 individual (46 had flowers) perennial plants specifically marketed as “bee friendly”. In addition, seeds from 65 seed bags were analyzed for the same pesticides. Our result show for the first time the distribution of pesticide residues between flowers, leaves, roots and soils of ornamental plants. We also show that all ornamental plants analyzed contained at least one pesticide, and that some samples contained up to 19 different substances.