The hard work done by bees to extract Honey from flowers is said to be the purest form of extracting Honey.
According to a study published in the journal Nature, three quarters of the Honey produced in the world contains neonicotinoids (neonics), a class of pesticides known to harm bees and many other wildlife species, according to research published in the leading scientific journal Science by a team from the University of Neuchâtel and the Botanical Garden of Neuchâtel.
The measured concentrations of neonics are, however, below the maximum levels authorized for human consumption.
The majority of the samples studied do not pose any health hazards to consumers, according to the study’s lead author, Edward Mitchell, professor and head of the laboratory of soil biodiversity at the University of Neuchâtel (now on sabbatical at Landcare Research in Lincoln, New Zealand).
Bees, however, are in a more critical situation.
Neonics account for one third of the global pesticide market. Major crops such as corn and soy are protected from pest insects using them. Neonics cause paralysis and death to invertebrate pests by attacking their nervous systems. Since neonics are present throughout the plant, including the pollen and nectar, bees are contaminated when they forage, resulting in contaminated Honey.
75% of the honey samples contained at least one of the five tested substances. The highest percentages were found in North America (86 percent), Asia (80%) and Europe (79%), while the lowest percentages were found in South America (57%). Oceania, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands were slightly below average (71 per cent).
“Throughout the world, bees are exposed to concentrations of neonics that have demonstrated effects on bees’ behaviour, physiology and reproductive abilities,” said Alexandre Aebi, lecturer in agroecology at the University of Neuchâtel and beekeeper.
Twenty-three percent of all samples contained a single neonicotinoid, 45 percent contained between two and five, and 10 percent contained four or five. The measured residue levels for all compounds and samples were below the maximum residue level that humans can consume; however, the total concentration of five neonicotinoids in two samples exceeded this limit. Whether contamination by multiple substances (the “cocktail effect”) will affect bees, humans or other organisms remains to be determined.
Researchers collected Honey from around the world using a citizen science effort led by the botanical garden of Neuchâtel.
More than 100 donors provided the samples randomly, said Blaise Mulhauser, director of the botanical garden. “We selected priority honeys from small and local producers, in order to ensure a balanced geographic representation.”
This research was enabled by an analytical platform at the University of Neuchâtel that detects trace concentrations of neonics in complex matrices, such as Honey, through the Neuchâtel Platform of Analytical Chemistry (NPAC).
He is also a member of the International Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, which released the second instalment of its Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Effects of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems last week in Ottawa, Canada. This peer-reviewed study will be published in a future issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research.