[PCA] ARTICLE: Contamination of wild plants near neonicotinoid seed-treated crops, and implications for non-target insects

De Angelis, Patricia patricia_deangelis at fws.gov
Mon Aug 22 09:01:54 CDT 2016


Alarming given the upsurge in planting native plants on field margins to
attract pollinators. Note the sentence in all caps, which was added for
emphasis.


Contaminated wild plants near neon ic planted seeds impacts to insects
Botias, et al., 2016
*Science of the Total Environment *2016 Oct 1;566-567:269-78. doi:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.065. Epub 2016 May 21

ABTRACT
Neonicotinoid insecticides are commonly-used as seed treatments on
flowering crops such as oilseed rape. Their persistence and solubility in
water increase the chances of environmental contamination via
surface-runoff or drainage into areas adjacent to the crops. However, their
uptake and fate into non-target vegetation remains poorly understood. In
this study, we analysed samples of foliage collected from neonicotinoid
seed-treated oilseed rape plants and also compared the levels of
neonicotinoid residues in foliage (range: 1.4–11 ng/g) with the levels
found in pollen collected from the same plants (range: 1.4–22 ng/g). We
then analysed residue levels in foliage from non-target plants growing in
the crop field margins (range: ≤ 0.02–106 ng/g). Finally, in order to
assess the possible risk posed by the peak levels of neonicotinoids that we
detected in foliage for farmland phytophagous and predatory insects, we
compared the maximum concentrations found against the LC50 values reported
in the literature for a set of relevant insect species. OUR RESULTS SUGGEST
THAT NEONICOTINOID SEED-DRESSINGS LEAD TO WIDESPREAD CONTAMINATION OF THE
FOLIAGE OF FIELD MARGIN PLANTS WITH MIXTURES OF NEONICOTINOID RESIDUES,
WHERE LEVELS ARE VERY VARIABLE AND DISCONTINUOUS, BUT SOMETIMES OVERLAP
WITH LETHAL CONCENTRATIONS REPORTED FOR SOME INSECT SPECIES [capitalization
added for emphasis]. Understanding the distribution of pesticides in the
environment and their potential effects on biological communities is
crucial to properly assess current agricultural management and schemes with
biodiversity conservation aims in farmland.

Link to abstract and a graphic: (full article available by purchase only)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969716309950
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