TY - JOUR
T1 - Honey bee exposure scenarios to selected residues through contaminated beeswax
AU - Wilmart, Olivier
AU - Legrève, Anne
AU - Scippo, Marie-Louise
AU - Reybroeck, Wim
AU - Urbain, Bruno
AU - de Graaf, Dirk C.
AU - Spanoghe, Pieter
AU - Delahaut, Philippe
AU - Saegerman, Claude
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - Twenty-two pesticides and veterinary drugs of which residues were detected in beeswax in Europe were selected according to different criteria. The risk to honey bee health posed by the presence of these residues in wax was assessed based on three exposure scenarios. The first one corresponds to the exposure of larvae following their close contact with wax constituting the cells in which they develop. The second one corresponds to the exposure of larvae following consumption of the larval food that was contaminated from contact with contaminated wax. The third one corresponds to the exposure of adult honey bees following wax chewing when building cells and based on a theoretical worst-case scenario (= intake of contaminants from wax). Following these three scenarios, maximum concentrations which should not be exceeded in beeswax in order to protect honey bee health were calculated for each selected substance. Based on these values, provisional action limits were proposed. Beeswax exceeding these limits should not be put on the market.
AB - Twenty-two pesticides and veterinary drugs of which residues were detected in beeswax in Europe were selected according to different criteria. The risk to honey bee health posed by the presence of these residues in wax was assessed based on three exposure scenarios. The first one corresponds to the exposure of larvae following their close contact with wax constituting the cells in which they develop. The second one corresponds to the exposure of larvae following consumption of the larval food that was contaminated from contact with contaminated wax. The third one corresponds to the exposure of adult honey bees following wax chewing when building cells and based on a theoretical worst-case scenario (= intake of contaminants from wax). Following these three scenarios, maximum concentrations which should not be exceeded in beeswax in order to protect honey bee health were calculated for each selected substance. Based on these values, provisional action limits were proposed. Beeswax exceeding these limits should not be put on the market.
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145533
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145533
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 772
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
IS - 145533
M1 - 145533
ER -