Abstract
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.
Highlights
Globalization has allowed agricultural production to grow much faster than in the past
Before an active substance can be used in a plant protection product (PPP), it must be approved through a rigorous evaluation process, including risk assessments for human health and the environment
The present work highlights the presence of hazardous pesticide residues in honey bees and other related samples belonging to toxicity classes Ia, Ib and II, alone or in combination, including unauthorized ones
Summary
Globalization has allowed agricultural production to grow much faster than in the past. Despite the benefits—above all, economic—derived from intensive farming, many studies have demonstrated the harmful effects caused to the health of people directly and indirectly exposed to the pesticides used to protect crops [1,2,3,4,5]. The use of pesticides is governed in the European Union by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market, repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC [6]. This regulation has since been further amended.
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