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Comparative examination on synergistic toxicities of chlorpyrifos, acephate, or tetraconazole mixed with pyrethroid insecticides to honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

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Abstract

Potential synergistic toxicity of pesticide mixtures has increasingly become a concern to the health of crop pollinators. The toxicities of individual and mixture of chlorpyrifos (CHL), acephate (ACE), or tetraconazole (TET) with nine pyrethroid insecticides to honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) were evaluated to reveal any aggregated interaction between pesticides. Results from feeding toxicity tests of individual pesticides indicated that organophosphate insecticides CHL and ACE had higher toxicities to honey bees compared to nine pyrethroids. Moreover, different pyrethroids exhibited considerable variation in toxicity with LC50 values ranging from 10.05 (8.60–11.69) to 1125 (922.4–1442) mg a.i. L−1 after exposure for 7 days. Among the 12 examined pesticides, a relatively low toxicity to A. mellifera was detected from the fungicide TET. All the binary mixtures of ACE or TET in combination with pyrethroids exhibited synergistic effects. However, TET in combination with pyrethroids showed greater synergistic toxicity to A. mellifera than ACE in combination with pyrethroids. Approximately 50% binary mixtures of CHL in combination with pyrethroids also showed synergistic responses in honey bees. In particular, CHL, ACE, or TET in combination with either lambda-cyhalothrin (LCY) or bifenthrin (BIF) showed the strongest synergy in A. mellifera, followed by CHL, ACE, or TET in combination with either zeta-cypermethrin (ZCY) or cypermethrin (CYP). The findings indicated that the co-exposure of various pesticides in natural settings might lead to severe injury to crop pollinators. Therefore, pesticide mixtures should be applied carefully in order to minimize negative effects on honey bees while maintaining effective management against crop pests.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Jian Chen of USDA-ARS (Stoneville, MS, USA) and Dr. Zibiao Guo of University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, TX, USA) and many anonymous journal reviewers and editors for valuable comments and suggestions that improved an early version of this manuscript. The authors also appreciate Dr. Nathan Schiff of USDA Forest Service (Stoneville, MS) for providing space for the bee yard and Joel Caren, Louisa Huang; Kenneth Adam Wells, and Narvetta Harvey for their Laboratory assistance.

Funding

Yanhua Wang was partially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1603004) for traveling to the USA and participating in the research. Mention of a proprietary product does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by the USDA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products/Key Laboratory for Pesticide Residue Detection of Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Quality and Standard for Agro-products, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, 310021, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Yanhua Wang

  2. Southern Insect Management Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS)USDA-ARS-JWDSRC, 141 Experiment Station Road /PO Box 346, Stoneville, MS, 38776, USA

    Yanhua Wang & Yu Cheng Zhu

  3. Guizhou Institute of Plant Protection, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang, 550006, Guizhou, People’s Republic of China

    Wenhong Li

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  1. Yanhua Wang
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Correspondence to Yu Cheng Zhu.

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Wang, Y., Zhu, Y.C. & Li, W. Comparative examination on synergistic toxicities of chlorpyrifos, acephate, or tetraconazole mixed with pyrethroid insecticides to honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 6971–6980 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07214-3

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