Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees

Abstract Pollinators, particularly wild bees, are suffering declines across the globe, and pesticides are thought to be drivers of these declines. Research into, and regulation of pesticides has focused on the active ingredients, and their impact on bee health. In contrast, the additional components...

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Autores principales:	Edward A. Straw, Mark J. F. Brown
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/44f40d41a3244a5a8a06c1892b84194a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:44f40d41a3244a5a8a06c1892b84194a2021-11-08T10:47:53ZCo-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees10.1038/s41598-021-00919-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/44f40d41a3244a5a8a06c1892b84194a2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00919-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Pollinators, particularly wild bees, are suffering declines across the globe, and pesticides are thought to be drivers of these declines. Research into, and regulation of pesticides has focused on the active ingredients, and their impact on bee health. In contrast, the additional components in pesticide formulations have been overlooked as potential threats. By testing an acute oral dose of the fungicide product Amistar, and equivalent doses of each individual co-formulant, we were able to measure the toxicity of the formulation and identify the ingredient responsible. We found that a co-formulant, alcohol ethoxylates, caused a range of damage to bumble bee health. Exposure to alcohol ethoxylates caused 30% mortality and a range of sublethal effects. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees consumed half as much sucrose as negative control bees over the course of the experiment and lost weight. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees had significant melanisation of their midguts, evidence of gut damage. We suggest that this gut damage explains the reduction in appetite, weight loss and mortality, with bees dying from energy depletion. Our results demonstrate that sublethal impacts of pesticide formulations need to be considered during regulatory consideration, and that co-formulants can be more toxic than active ingredients.Edward A. StrawMark J. F. BrownNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Edward A. Straw Mark J. F. Brown Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
description	Abstract Pollinators, particularly wild bees, are suffering declines across the globe, and pesticides are thought to be drivers of these declines. Research into, and regulation of pesticides has focused on the active ingredients, and their impact on bee health. In contrast, the additional components in pesticide formulations have been overlooked as potential threats. By testing an acute oral dose of the fungicide product Amistar, and equivalent doses of each individual co-formulant, we were able to measure the toxicity of the formulation and identify the ingredient responsible. We found that a co-formulant, alcohol ethoxylates, caused a range of damage to bumble bee health. Exposure to alcohol ethoxylates caused 30% mortality and a range of sublethal effects. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees consumed half as much sucrose as negative control bees over the course of the experiment and lost weight. Alcohol ethoxylates treated bees had significant melanisation of their midguts, evidence of gut damage. We suggest that this gut damage explains the reduction in appetite, weight loss and mortality, with bees dying from energy depletion. Our results demonstrate that sublethal impacts of pesticide formulations need to be considered during regulatory consideration, and that co-formulants can be more toxic than active ingredients.
format	article
author	Edward A. Straw Mark J. F. Brown
author_facet	Edward A. Straw Mark J. F. Brown
author_sort	Edward A. Straw
title	Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
title_short	Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
title_full	Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
title_fullStr	Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
title_full_unstemmed	Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
title_sort	co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/44f40d41a3244a5a8a06c1892b84194a
work_keys_str_mv	AT edwardastraw coformulantinacommercialfungicideproductcauseslethalandsublethaleffectsinbumblebees AT markjfbrown coformulantinacommercialfungicideproductcauseslethalandsublethaleffectsinbumblebees
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Co-formulant in a commercial fungicide product causes lethal and sub-lethal effects in bumble bees

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