Uncovering hidden dangers: The combined toxicity of abamectin and lambda-cyhalothrin on honey bees

Xiaozhen Chen; Feidi Wang; Haikun Guo; Xinju Liu; Shenggan Wu; Lu Lv; Tao Tang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173126

Uncovering hidden dangers: The combined toxicity of abamectin and lambda-cyhalothrin on honey bees

Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 9:933:173126. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173126. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiaozhen Chen¹, Feidi Wang², Haikun Guo², Xinju Liu², Shenggan Wu², Lu Lv³, Tao Tang⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Food Science and Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China; 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 and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
² 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 and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China.
³ 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 and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China. Electronic address: lvlu@zaas.ac.cn.
⁴ 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 and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China. Electronic address: tangtao@zaas.ac.cn.

PMID: 38734105
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173126

Abstract

Studying the toxic effects of pesticides on bees has consistently been a prominent area of interest for researchers. Nonetheless, existing research has predominantly concentrated on individual toxicity assessments, leaving a gap in our understanding of mixed toxicity. This study delves into the individual and combined toxic effects of abamectin (ABA) and lambda-cyhalothrin (LCY) on honey bees (Apis mellifera) in laboratory settings. We discovered that ABA (96 h-LC₅₀ value of 0.079 mg/L) exhibited greater acute toxicity to honey bees compared to LCY (96 h-LC₅₀ value of 9.177 mg/L). Moreover, the mixture of ABA and LCY presented an acute antagonistic effect on honey bees. Additionally, our results indicated that exposure to LCY, at medium concentration, led to a reduction in the abundance of gut core bacterium Snodgrassella. However, an increase in the abundance of Bifidobacterium was noted when exposed to a medium concentration of LCY and its mixture with ABA. Transcriptomic analysis revealed significant regulation of certain genes in the medium concentration of all three treatments compared to the control group, primarily enriching in metabolism and immune-related pathways. Following chronic exposure to field-relevant concentrations of ABA, LCY, and their mixture, there were significant alterations in the activities of immunity-related enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and detoxification enzymes glutathione S-transferase (GST) and carboxylesterase (CarE). Additionally, the expression of four genes (abaecin, cyp9e2, cyp302a1, and GstD1) associated with immune and detoxification metabolism was significantly altered. These findings suggest a potential health risk posed by the insecticides ABA and LCY to honey bees. Despite exhibiting acute antagonistic effect, mixed exposure still induced damage to bees at all levels. This study advances our knowledge of the potential adverse effects of individual or combined exposure to these two pesticides on non-target pollinators and offers crucial guidance for the use of insecticides in agricultural production.

Keywords: Combined toxicity; Detoxification; Gut microbiota; Honey bees; Immune system; Insecticides.