Open AccessIMPACT OF NEONICOTINOID INSECTICIDES RESIDUES APPLIED AS SEED TREATMENTS ON MAIZE AND ON BEES AND HIVE PRODUCTS
Author(s) -
Angela Cristina Amuza,
Roxana Zaharia,
Alin Gheorghe,
Emil Georgescu,
G. Traşcă,
Maria Podea,
Paula Lucretia Pintilie,
Agripina Şapcaliu,
Carmen Mincea
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
romanian journal for plant protection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2248-129X
DOI - 10.54574/rjpp.14.13
Subject(s) - clothianidin , thiamethoxam , biology , neonicotinoid , imidacloprid , european commission , toxicology , european union , acetamiprid , agriculture , population , context (archaeology) , agronomy , pesticide , ecology , business , paleontology , demography , sociology , economic policy
" Romania registered in the last years record productions for maize, being in 2019, on the first place inEurope and also, according to Eurostat data, the eighth agricultural power in Europe. The European Commissionclosely monitors the possible relations between bee health and pesticides and is determined to take the mostcautious approach possible to protect bees. In 2013, the European Commission severely restricted the use of plantprotection products for seed treatment and treated seeds containing three neonicotinoids (clothianidin,imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) in order to protect honeybees (Regulation (EU) No 485/2013). Due to therestrictions imposed on Romanian farmers, they are facing an alarming increase in the population density of somesoil pests, the most dangerous being Tanymecus dilaticollis and Agriotes spp., no other insecticides being availablefor maize seed treatment against T. dilaticollis in Romania. In this context, since 2018, the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development together with the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences funded researches tomonitor populations of T. dilaticollis and Agriotes spp., but also the residues level of neonicotinoid insecticidesfrom soil, plants in various development stages (leaves and inflorescences), as well as in bees and hive products(pollen, honey). Studies were performed in three areas of Romania, respectively, Moldova (Neamt County) andsouth of country (Calarasi County) where T. dilaticollis exceed the economic damage threshold (4-5 adults/sqm)and Subcarpathian hills (Arges county), where Agriotes spp. populations exceed the economic damage threshold(2-4 larvae/sqm), areas where maize is the main crop. Regarding the evolution of maize leaf weevil an wirewormspopulation in the period 2018-2020, from the data obtained it can be observed that the number of adults/sqm hasremained above the economic damage threshold. Regarding neonicotinoids residues monitoring, the samples weretaken from maize crops at various growth stages, including inflorescences, from bees, pollen and honey samples,too. Residues levels were determined in accredited laboratories from Germany, France and Bulgaria usingcertificated methods. Of the total samples, most with residues content above LOQ (limits of quantification), aresoil samples, an absolutely normal situation, as the neonicotinoids were applied as seed treatment. It is also veryimportant to mention that the lowest percentage of samples with residues above the limit of quantification, wasrecorded in inflorescences, honey and bees samples, the annual deviations being insignificant. It has to behighlighted that the environmental factors, especially the humidity, influenced the repeatability of the results (forexample: the rainfalls during the sowing period favored the toxic substances levigation in soil)."