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From flowers to pollinators : Dietary exposure of honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees to trace elements across European fields

Durkalec, Maciej ; Nawrocka, Agnieszka ; Jitaru, Petru ; Chauzat, Marie Pierre ; Laurent, Marion ; Albrecht, Matthias ; Costa, Cecilia ; De la Rúa, Pilar ; Klein, Alexandra Maria LU and Mänd, Marika , et al. (2026) In Journal of Hazardous Materials 514.
Abstract

Trace elements are persistent contaminants that enter bee diets through pollen, nectar, soil-derived particles and atmospheric deposition, yet field-based exposure data for pollinator taxa remain limited. We examined 18 trace elements (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U, V, Zn) in pollen stored by managed western honey bees (Apis mellifera), buff-tailed bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), and red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) from 128 apple orchards and oilseed rape fields across eight European countries. We assessed species-, crop- and landscape-related drivers of element accumulation in stored pollen and honey bee workers, and used these data to estimate dietary exposure and risk. Stored pollen showed crop- and... (More)

Trace elements are persistent contaminants that enter bee diets through pollen, nectar, soil-derived particles and atmospheric deposition, yet field-based exposure data for pollinator taxa remain limited. We examined 18 trace elements (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U, V, Zn) in pollen stored by managed western honey bees (Apis mellifera), buff-tailed bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), and red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) from 128 apple orchards and oilseed rape fields across eight European countries. We assessed species-, crop- and landscape-related drivers of element accumulation in stored pollen and honey bee workers, and used these data to estimate dietary exposure and risk. Stored pollen showed crop- and species-specific differences in trace element levels. Red mason bee pollen contained several-fold higher concentrations than honey bee and bumble bee pollen, suggesting that honey bees may not be a suitable model for pollen-based exposure studies. Stored pollen from apple orchards contained higher Cu than that from oilseed rape sites, likely linked to Cu-based fungicide use. Landscape characteristics, including crop and urban cover, influenced element concentrations in stored pollen and honey bee workers. Acute risks were assessed for As, Cd, Cu, and Hg, and chronic risks for As and Cd. For elements with available toxicity endpoints, estimated dietary risk was negligible or low; for elements lacking such endpoints, risk could not be quantified despite exposure estimates. Higher exposure of solitary bees, together with scarce toxicity data, indicates that future studies should focus on establishing species-specific toxicity endpoints.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bioaccumulation, Environmental contamination, Exposure pathways, Heavy metals, Risk assessment
in
Journal of Hazardous Materials
volume
514
article number
142644
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:42275959
  • scopus:105041277027
ISSN
0304-3894
DOI
10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142644
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
id
85780ff8-1d57-4a76-bac7-aecf9f5897b4
date added to LUP
2026-07-23 13:55:15
date last changed
2026-09-03 17:12:53
@article{85780ff8-1d57-4a76-bac7-aecf9f5897b4,
  abstract     = {{<p>Trace elements are persistent contaminants that enter bee diets through pollen, nectar, soil-derived particles and atmospheric deposition, yet field-based exposure data for pollinator taxa remain limited. We examined 18 trace elements (Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, U, V, Zn) in pollen stored by managed western honey bees (Apis mellifera), buff-tailed bumble bees (Bombus terrestris), and red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) from 128 apple orchards and oilseed rape fields across eight European countries. We assessed species-, crop- and landscape-related drivers of element accumulation in stored pollen and honey bee workers, and used these data to estimate dietary exposure and risk. Stored pollen showed crop- and species-specific differences in trace element levels. Red mason bee pollen contained several-fold higher concentrations than honey bee and bumble bee pollen, suggesting that honey bees may not be a suitable model for pollen-based exposure studies. Stored pollen from apple orchards contained higher Cu than that from oilseed rape sites, likely linked to Cu-based fungicide use. Landscape characteristics, including crop and urban cover, influenced element concentrations in stored pollen and honey bee workers. Acute risks were assessed for As, Cd, Cu, and Hg, and chronic risks for As and Cd. For elements with available toxicity endpoints, estimated dietary risk was negligible or low; for elements lacking such endpoints, risk could not be quantified despite exposure estimates. Higher exposure of solitary bees, together with scarce toxicity data, indicates that future studies should focus on establishing species-specific toxicity endpoints.</p>}},
  author       = {{Durkalec, Maciej and Nawrocka, Agnieszka and Jitaru, Petru and Chauzat, Marie Pierre and Laurent, Marion and Albrecht, Matthias and Costa, Cecilia and De la Rúa, Pilar and Klein, Alexandra Maria and Mänd, Marika and Potts, Simon G. and Rundlöf, Maj and Schweiger, Oliver and Bottero, Irene and Cini, Elena and R. de Miranda, Joachim and Di Prisco, Gennaro and Dominik, Christophe and Hodge, Simon and Karise, Reet and Knapp, Jessica and Knauer, Anina and Martínez-López, Vicente and Medrzycki, Piotr and Pereira-Peixoto, Helena and Raimets, Risto and Schwarz, Janine and Senapathi, Deepa and Tamburini, Giovanni and Brown, Mark J.F. and Stout, Jane C. and Kiljanek, Tomasz}},
  issn         = {{0304-3894}},
  keywords     = {{Bioaccumulation; Environmental contamination; Exposure pathways; Heavy metals; Risk assessment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Hazardous Materials}},
  title        = {{From flowers to pollinators : Dietary exposure of honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees to trace elements across European fields}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142644}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jhazmat.2026.142644}},
  volume       = {{514}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}