Bees as biomonitors of persistent organic pollutants: Approaches and challenges

CECCHETTO, FRANCO; VILLALBA, AGUSTINA; MAGGI, MATIAS D.; MIGLIORANZA, KARINA S.B.

Vancouver

Congreso; 2022 Joint ESA, ESC, and ESBC Annual Meeting; 2023

ESA, ESC, and ESBC

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) but also other species from Apidae family are very important for ecosystems stability, crops production and global biodiversity. During the last years, bees have been threatened by several factors, such as habitat loss, agricultural intensification and excessive use of pesticides, among others. Bees are continuously exposed to environmental disturbs, which is reinforced by their foraging flights across a determined area, and, therefore, making them very useful biomonitors of environmental pollution. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are forbidden at worldwide level, but due to its ubiquity, long persistence and lipophilicity are still found in bees and other animals, and plus, having the capacity to produce chronic effects on the individuals. Several POPs monitoring studies on pollinators have been carried out in different countries, mainly focus on honeybees and colony matrixes, however, in South America, there is scarce information on this matter. The aforementioned POPs properties, the current use of some of them for the control of diseases vectors, such as DDT, or even possible illegal applications, highlights the necessity to plan continuous monitoring strategies in different matrixes and environments, including bees and other pollinators, to better understand the dynamics of these pollutants in the ecosystems.