Browsing by Subject "Pflanzenschutzmittel"

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Charakterisierung der Qualität von Blütenpollen in unterschiedlichen Regionen Baden-Württembergs
(2022) Friedle, Carolin Gertrud Maria; Hasselmann, Martin
Honey bees (Apis mellifera) collect nectar and pollen from plants to feed their brood. Pollen provides a wide range of nutrients, such as proteins and lipids, but also carbohydrates, vitamins and enzymes. Because of these ingredients, pollen is also attractive to humans and is used as a dietary supplement. However, honey bees collect pollen not only from wild plants, but also from flowering crops grown in agriculture. Accordingly, contamination from plant protection products can be found in bee pollen and bee bread. In order to get a deeper insight into the occurrence and distribution of pesticide residues during an entire season, a total of 102 daily pollen samples were collected from April to July 2018 using pollen traps in an orchard in southern Germany. Almost 90% of the pollen samples showed detectable levels of pesticide residues. A total of 29 pesticides were detected in the samples, with more than half being fungicides, followed by insecticides and herbicides. Maximum concentrations of up to 4500 ng/g could be measured at the end of April. Samples collected in early May and late June also showed high levels of pesticides. A general risk management was performed to assess the risk of the detected pesticide concentrations for honey bees. The microbial quality of bee pollen is highly dependent on its botanical and geographic origin, as well as climatic conditions and post-harvest processing steps by the beekeeper. If no processing steps such as freezing or drying follow after harvest, the growth of microorganisms can be promoted and the pollen quality can be influenced by negative side effects such as fermentation or the production of mycotoxins. Bacterial and fungal colonies can be determined both by culture-dependent methods such as colony counting on plates and by culture-independent methods such as 16-rRNA amplicon sequencing. Following the hypothesis that storage conditions influence the composition of microorganisms in bee pollen, freshly harvested bee pollen was stored for seven days in June 2018 and 2019 under defined conditions (cold, room temperature, warm) and analyzed by sequencing 16S and 18S PCR amplicons. The bacterial community varied slightly between the sites studied and showed no significant difference between the storage conditions. The fungal community showed significant differences both between the studied sites and between the different storage conditions. The dominant fungal genera in the pollen samples were Cladosporium, Aspergillus and Zygosaccharomyces. While Cladosporium was most dominant in freshly collected pollen and the percentage decreased during storage, Aspergillus and Zygosaccharomyces showed a significant increase especially under warm storage conditions. Other contaminants naturally produced by plants can also have negative impacts on human health. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids belong to a group of phytochemicals, of which more than 600 structures are known in around 3% of all flowering plants worldwide. PA are known to be able to cause both acute poisoning and chronic damage or cancer in animals and humans. In July 2019, pollen was collected at 57 locations in Baden-Württemberg and analyzed for 42 different PAs and their N-oxides in order to expand knowledge about PA contamination in pollen and to be able to estimate the risk of the concentrations. A total of 22 different PAs were detected in over 90% of all samples examined. Only 5% of the PA were obtained as PA from plants of Senecio sp. identified, while 95% of PAs with a botanical background are from Echium sp. and Eupatorium sp. could be identified. The maximum total concentration of PA per sample was determined to be 48,400 ng/g. According to the risk values calculated by the BfR, however, 42% of the samples represented an increased risk to human health.
Einfluss moderner Pflanzenschutzmittel auf die Mobilität von POP-belasteten Agrarflächen am Beispiel von DDT : ein Feldversuch
(2023) Neitsch, Julia Simone; Vetter, Walter
Due to their recalcitrance, the chloropesticide DDT and its structurally related compounds (DDX) are difficult to degrade. Consequently, farmers are still frequently confronted with DDX contamination in their fields that was left over from the 1960s. This problem is particularly prevalent in contaminated soils that are intended to cultivate plants of the Cucurbitaceae family. These plants release so-called root exudates, which function as natural surfactants that mobilize the DDX present in the soils. Furthermore, surfactants are a common constituent of modern plant protection product (PPP) formulations, which can likewise cause DDX mobilization. The higher mobility of DDX caused by these surfactants can result in the absorption and accumulation of chlorinated pesticides in plants. The side effects of such surfactant-containing PPP formulations have historically been overlooked in the context of standard spraying protocols. The potential mobilization of DDX in soils and its accumulation in Cucurbita pepo due to the surfactants present in standard PPPs formulations was investigated using two field trials. One field was treated with a conventional PPP, while the other was treated with a biological PPP; a control field was left untreated, within which pumpkins were cultivated. Soil samples were taken before and after the application of PPP. The DDX content was subsequently determined in extracts from the soil phase samples and soil water fractions. The background DDX contamination of the soils was comparable in all three test fields. The comparative evaluation showed that the field treated with the biological PPP formulation exhibited a considerable increase in DDX mobility compared to the untreated and conventionally cultivated areas (Paper 1). An analysis of its respective water fraction revealed that it was more contaminated with DDX than the control treatments. This increase suggests a higher bioavailability that can be traced back to the presence of surfactants and oils in the PPP formulations (Paper 1). This higher bioavailability may have been accompanied by an increase in the DDX uptake of the cultivated plants. Furthermore, it was found that treatment with specific formulations of emulsifiable concentrates (EC) promoted DDX mobilization. This mobilizing effect was most likely due to the differing composition of the surfactant and proportions of oils in the PPPs. The second field test focused on differential DDX accumulation in Cucurbita pepo cv. Howden by different PPPs. Fields were treated with PPP in accordance with the official spraying plans and regulations set out by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). Samples from the pumpkin plants roots, shoots, as well as the pumpkins themselves were taken during the cultivation period. The DDX content in the roots from the control fields and the fields with conventional PPP treatments remained virtually unchanged; however, the DDX content increased in the biologically treated area (Paper 2). The pumpkin shoots did not exhibit any increases in DDX concentration during the growing phase regardless of the field sampled. However, an increased DDX content was detected in the shoots of the plants in all test fields shortly before harvesting. At the end of the growing phase, fruits from the biologically treated area showed a higher DDX content than those from the control and conventionally treated areas. In addition, the most critical DDT metabolite, DDE, was found to have been transported to distant parts of the plant, while DDD was detectable in the roots and shoots but not in the fruits of the pumpkins (Paper 2). An assessment of the results of both experiments confirmed a direct correlation between DDX mobilization in the soil and plant uptake. In addition, the bioaccumulation factors of the biologically treated areas were markedly higher than those seen in the conventionally treated and control areas. The results of the field trials show that the mobilization of DDT, as well as the likely mobilization of other lipophilic contaminants, can become problematic for farmers using surfactant-containing EC formulations. However, this observation also provides opportunities for improved phytoremediation by applying EC formulations with high mobilization potentials. The field trials indicate that the mobilizing effects of DDT prompted by EC mixtures depend on the surfactant content in the PPP formulations as well as environmental conditions such as soil conditions, soil water content, and precipitation. Unravelling the optimal range of surfactant-rich formulations and environmental conditions could lead to a promising strategy for soil phytoremediation.
Pflanzenschutzmittelrückstände im gehöselten Pollen der Honigbiene (Apis mellifera L.) : Auswirkungen einer feldrealistischen Pflanzenschutzmittelmischung auf Stockbienen und den Larvenfuttersaft
(2017) Böhme, Franziska; Zebitz, Claus P. W.
Pesticides are used worldwide and contaminate air, surfaces, soils and the aquifer. Non-target-organisms and non-target-plants may get into contact with pesticides di-rectly via drift or indirectly via run-off, leaching or sowing dust. Due to pollination services and bee products, the honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is a non-target-organism of major interest for humans. On their flights around the beehive they collect water, pol-len, nectar, honeydew and tree resin. The proteins originating from the pollen are im-portant for nutrition and development of larvae and adults. Pollen is stored and fer-mented inside the hive as beebread and is made of hundreds of pollen loads of differ-ent plants collected over a longer period. Pesticide residue analyses of beebread is a common tool to estimate the contact of honeybees to pesticides in the field. However, such beebread analyses cover a larger time frame and a mixture with uncontaminated pollen will dilute the maximum residue levels of certain plant pollen. Therefore, pesti-cide analysis of bee bread is only an approximate approach to estimate the real pesti-cide exposition. Thus, pollen pellets were collected daily at three distinct sites with differences in agri-cultural intensity in Baden-Württemberg from 2012 - 2016 during the agronomic active season (spring/summer). We wanted to give detailed information on the daily contact to pesticides as well as changing pesticide frequencies and combinations throughout the season. 281 pollen pellet samples, each representing a single day, were analyzed for 282 active ingredients currently used in agricultural practice (publication 1). Huge qualitative and quantitative differences in the pesticide load between the sites were discovered. The meadow site near Göppingen was the least contaminated. In five ob-servation years only 24 different substances were found in 56 % of the samples with concentrations up to 300 µg/kg. The more intensive site in Ertingen is characterized by grains and maize for biogas plants. Only 13 % of the samples were uncontaminated, in the remaining samples 37 substances with maximal concentrations up to 1,500 µg/kg were detected. The site with the highest occurrence of crop protection was close to Heilbronn. Permanent crops such as wine and orchards shape the landscape. The high-est detected concentration was 7,178 µg/kg. All samples were contaminated with up to 58 different substances. During the five years of observation 73 different pesticides were found. Due to admis-sion regulations, there was a high likelihood to find 84 % of these substances in pollen. Twelve substances were found that are either not registered as plant protection prod-ucts or are not supposed to get in contact with bees. This indicates a need for further improvement of seed treatments and increasing awareness of flowering shrubs, field margins and pesticide drift. Concluding from the majority of concentrations and pesti-cides found, we assume no misuse of pesticides by the farmers at our three sites in the observation period, which would lead to direct intoxication. Considering LD50 values, the here detected concentrations are sub-lethal for honeybees. However, at any tested site and in most of the samples a mixture of different pesticides was found. Yet, it is not known, whether there are effects caused by a combination of different pesticides in sub-lethal concentrations when consumed chronically by honeybees. Therefore, we conducted a field experiment with free-flying honeybee colonies (publi-cation 2). Mini-hives containing about 2,500 bees and sister queens were established at the Apicultural State Institute. Queens were confined to an empty frame to receive lar-vae of known age. These bees were intended to feed on pesticides chronically in two crucial life stages. After larvae hatched from the eggs and after adults hatched from the cells they were fed a pollen-honey diet contaminated with a cocktail of twelve dif-ferent active ingredients in field-realistic concentrations. In colonies treated with a pes-ticide mixture, larval weight was higher and acini diameters of the hypopharyngeal glands of nurse bees were smaller than in the untreated control. However, brood termi-nation and adult lifespan did not differ between both groups. Despite feeding a pesti-cide cocktail chronically starting on the first day of larval being, no obvious negative side-effects in worker bees were detected. It raises the question, if nurse bees, which feed on the contaminated pollen-honey diet, produce larval food and feed larvae, serve as a filter system so that larvae would not come into contact with the pesticides. To determine the fate of pesticides originating from the pollen source, we started a queen rearing (publication 3). Frames with 24 h old larvae were hang into queenless free flying mini-hives. At the same time, the colo-nies were fed a pollen-honey diet containing a cocktail of 13 commonly used pesti-cides in high concentrations. The royal jelly (RJ) fed to the larvae by nurse bees was harvested from the queen cells and subjected to a multi-pesticide residue analysis. Sev-en substances were rediscovered in traces (76.5% of all detections were below 1 μg/kg). However, worker larvae older than three days receive a modified jelly, containing pol-len coloring the food yellowish. That is why we were wondering if contaminated pol-len might have a different effect on the food of worker larvae. Queens of free-flying mini hives were caged to receive larvae of known age. The colonies received a pollen-honey diet, contaminated with high concentrations of a pesticide mixture (publication 4, submitted). Worker jelly (WJ) was harvested on four successive days from larval age three to six and subjected to a multi-pesticide residue analysis. Pesticide concentrations increased with larval age and ranged between 2.9 and 871.0 µg/kg for the different substances and age groups. As the increase of substances in the WJ positively corre-lates with the amount of pollen grains counted in the larval food, we were able to show a direct relationship between the administered pollen in the food and the pesticide concentrations. Considering the maximum food uptake rates of a worker larvae, even the highest con-centrations found, would lead solely to sub-lethal amounts. Even for queens, who con-sume RJ not only as larvae but during their whole life would consume only sub-lethal pesticide concentrations. Especially considering the not-field realistic concentrations we chose for our experiments. Probably, the sub-lethal effects found in our first exper-iment are due to the sub-lethal concentrations worker larvae have taken up chronically during their development. Even though we did not detect acute intoxication symptoms and the concentrations in the brood food are sub-lethal, we cannot infer whether there are impairments of fitness or brood success of honeybee colonies in the long term. However, as honeybee colonies are considered as superorganisms, they are able to tol-erate stressors or the loss of individuals. Therefore, the detection of sub-lethal effects on colony-level in the field is difficult. Yet, a vast problem arises with solitary living insects, for example wild bee species, which are more prone to stressors such as pesti-cides. Solitary insects have more restricted flight and collecting areas, get into contact with pesticides in pollen directly as larvae and have almost no buffer capacities.