An update of the Worldwide Integrated Assessment (WIA) on systemic insecticides. Part 2: impacts on organisms and ecosystems

New information on the lethal and sublethal effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil on organisms is presented in this review, complementing the previous WIA in 2015. The high toxicity of these systemic insecticides to invertebrates has been confirmed and expanded to include more species and compounds. Most of the recent research has focused on bees and the sublethal and ecological impacts these insecticides have on pollinators. Toxic effects on other invertebrate taxa also covered predatory and parasitoid natural enemies and aquatic arthropods. Little, while not much new information has been gathered on soil organisms. The impact on marine coastal ecosystems is still largely uncharted. The chronic lethality of neonicotinoids to insects and crustaceans, and the strengthened evidence that these chemicals also impair the immune system and reproduction, highlights the dangers of this particular insecticidal classneonicotinoids and fipronil. , withContinued large scale – mostly prophylactic – use of these persistent organochlorine pesticides has the potential to greatly decreasecompletely eliminate populations of arthropods in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Sublethal effects on fish, reptiles, frogs, birds and mammals are also reported, showing a better understanding of the mechanisms of toxicity of these insecticides in vertebrates, and their deleterious impacts on growth, reproduction and neurobehaviour of most of the species tested. This review concludes with a summary of impacts on the ecosystem services and functioning, particularly on pollination, soil biota and aquatic invertebrate communities, thus reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. 2015)

Design and planning of a transdisciplinary investigation into farmland pollinators: rationale, co-design, and lessons learned

To provide a complete portrayal of the multiple factors negatively impacting insects in agricultural landscapes it is necessary to assess the concurrent incidence, magnitude, and interactions among multiple stressors over substantial biogeographical scales. Trans-national ecological field investigations with wide-ranging stakeholders typically encounter numerous challenges during the design planning stages, not least that the scientific soundness of a spatially replicated study design must account for the substantial geographic and climatic variation among distant sites. ‘PoshBee’ (Pan-European assessment, monitoring, and mitigation of Stressors on the Health of Bees) is a multi-partner transdisciplinary agroecological project established to investigate the suite of stressors typically encountered by pollinating insects in European agricultural landscapes. To do this, PoshBee established a network of 128 study sites across eight European countries and collected over 50 measurements and samples relating to the nutritional, toxicological, pathogenic, and landscape components of the bees’ environment. This paper describes the development process, rationale, and end-result of each aspect of the of the PoshBee field investigation. We describe the main issues and challenges encountered during the design stages and highlight a number of actions or processes that may benefit other multi-partner research consortia planning similar large-scale studies. It was soon identified that in a multi-component study design process, the development of interaction and communication networks involving all collaborators and stakeholders requires considerable time and resources. It was also necessary at each planning stage to be mindful of the needs and objectives of all stakeholders and partners, and further challenges inevitably arose when practical limitations, such as time restrictions and labour constraints, were superimposed upon prototype study designs. To promote clarity for all stakeholders, for each sub-component of the study, there should be a clear record of the rationale and reasoning that outlines how the final design transpired, what compromises were made, and how the requirements of different stakeholders were accomplished. Ultimately, multi-national agroecological field studies such as PoshBee benefit greatly from the involvement of diverse stakeholders and partners, ranging from field ecologists, project managers, policy legislators, mathematical modelers, and farmer organisations. While the execution of the study highlighted the advantages and benefits of large-scale transdisciplinary projects, the long planning period emphasized the need to formally describe a design framework that could facilitate the design process of future multi-partner collaborations

Method of Glyphosate, AMPA, and Glufosinate Ammonium Determination in Beebread by Liquid Chromatography—Tandem Mass Spectrometry after Molecularly Imprinted Solid-Phase Extraction

The aim of this study was to develop a method for the determination of glyphosate, its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and glufosinate ammonium residues in beebread samples, which could then be used to assess bees’ exposure to their residues. The complexity of beebread’s matrix, combined with the specific properties of glyphosate itself, required careful selection and optimization of each analysis step. The use of molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MIP-SPE) by AFFINIMIP glyphosate as an initial clean-up step significantly eliminated matrix components and ensured an efficient derivatization step. Colorless beebread extracts were derivatized by the addition of 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-Cl). After derivatization, in order to remove FMOC-OH and residual borate buffer, a solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up step using Oasis HLB was carried out. Instrumental analysis was performed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The method was validated according to the SANTE/11312/2021 guideline at concentrations of 5, 10, and 100 µg/kg, and satisfactory recovery (trueness) values (76–111%) and precision (RSDr) ≤ 18% were obtained. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 5 µg/kg for AMPA and glufosinate ammonium and 10 µg/kg for glyphosate. The method was positively verified by the international proficiency test. Analysis of beebread samples showed the method’s usefulness in practice. The developed method could be a reliable tool for the assessment of beebread’s contamination with residues of glyphosate, its metabolite AMPA, and glufosinate ammonium

Pesticide Poisoning of Honeybees: A Review of Symptoms, Incident Classification, and Causes of Poisoning

During the 2000s, the problem of pesticide poisoning of honeybees seemed to be almost solved. The number of cases has decreased in comparison to the 1970s. The problem of acute honeybee poisoning, however, has not disappeared, but instead has transformed into a problem of poisoning from ‘traditional’ pesticides like organophosphorus pesticides or pyrethroids, to poisoning from additional sources of ‘modern’ systemic neonicotinoids and fipronil. In this article, the biological activity of pesticides was reviewed. The poisoning symptoms, incident definitions, and monitoring systems, as well as the interpretation of the analytical results, were also reviewed. The range of pesticides, and the detected concentrations of pesticides in poisoned honeybee samples, were reviewed. And, for the first time, cases of poisoning related to neonicotinoids were reviewed. The latter especially is of practical importance and could be helpful to analysts and investigators of honeybee poisoning incidents. It is assumed that secondary poisoning induced by plant collected materials contaminated with systemic pesticides occurs. Food stored in a hive and contaminated with systemic pesticides consumed continuously by the same generation of winter bees, may result in sub-lethal intoxication. This leads to abnormal behaviour identified during acute intoxication. The final result is that the bees discontinue their social role in the honeybee colony super organism, and colony collapse disorder (CCD) takes place. The process described above refers primarily to robust and strong colonies that were able to collect plenty of food due to effective plant protection

The costs of changing modality in visuo-haptic recognition of scenes

The experiment is aimed at investigating the factors that may modulate the costs of cross-modal visuo-haptic recognition of scenes. Participants learned a scene either visually or by touch (in the latter case they were blindfolded); then, following a delay, they identified the scene using the same or changed modality. The level of difficulty was adjusted by introducing two or three changes in the placement of scene elements at the recognition stage. It has been demonstrated that the costs of modality change, related to both decreased accuracy of recognition and extended time for making decision, occur only in a situation when a significant burden is imposed on working memory, i.e., with tactile learning of a scene and a high level of difficulty of the recognition task

Koszty zmiany modalności we wzrokowo-dotykowym rozpoznawaniu scen

Celem eksperymentu było sprawdzenie, jakie czynniki mogą modyfikować koszty międzymodalnego wzrokowo-dotykowego rozpoznawania scen. Badani uczyli się sceny, patrząc na nią bądź jej dotykając (w warunkach dotykowych – z zasłoniętymi oczami), a po odroczeniu rozpoznawali ją za pośrednictwem tej samej bądź zmienionej modalności. Manipulowano poziomem trudności zadania, wprowadzając na etapie rozpoznawania dwie bądź trzy zmiany umiejscowienia elementów tworzących scenę. Stwierdzono, że koszty zmiany modalności, związane zarówno ze spadkiem trafności rozpoznawania, jak i z wydłużeniem czasu podejmowania decyzji, występują jedynie w sytuacji dużego obciążenia pamięci roboczej, to jest w sytuacji dotykowego uczenia się sceny i przy dużym poziomie trudności zadania rozpoznawania

Development of a High Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode Array Detector (HPLC-DAD) Method for Determination of Biogenic Amines in Ripened Cheeses

Biogenic amines (BAs) are organic, basic nitrogenous compounds formed during the decarboxylation of amino acids. A method for the determination of eight biogenic amines (tryptamine, 2-phenyletylamine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, tyramine, spermidine, spermine) in ripened cheeses was developed and validated. Cheese samples with the addition of internal standards were extracted with 0.2 M perchloric acid and pre-column derivatized with dansyl chloride at 60 °C for 15 min, purified with toluene and dried under a stream of nitrogen. The samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The method was validated with the BAs at three concentration levels: 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, respectively. The obtained values of correlation coefficient (R2) ranged at 0.9997–0.9998 for all of compounds. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were in ranges 1.53–1.88 and 5.13–6.28 mg/kg, respectively. The recovery for all of biogenic amines ranged from 70 to 120% and the precision (RSDr) value were <20%. The validated method was applied to analysis of 35 real ripened cheese samples purchased in Poland

Amitraz marker residues in honey from honeybee colonies treated with Apiwarol

Amitraz is a formamide exhibiting both acaricidal and insecticidal activity and is frequently used by beekeepers to protect honeybee colonies against Varroa destructor mites. The aim of this apiary trial was to evaluate the impact of honeybee colony fumigation with amitraz on the level of contamination of honey stored in combs

L'étude de néonicotinoides en culture betteravière

Des chercheurs de l'UCLouvain identifie une menace pour les pollinisateur