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Pesticide concentrations in bees and other matrices collected from sunflower fields (with and without a neonicotinoid seed treatment) near Sacramento, California

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

Hybrid sunflower production occurs near Sacramento in Northern California where seed treatments are commonly used. In this study, four locations were sampled in 2016 as matched pairs; half of each field was sown with thiamethoxam treated seed and half without. In addition to the thiamethoxam seed treatment, all seeds were coated with two fungicides, fludioxonil and mefenoxam/metalaxyl. Both wild bee and honey bee pesticide exposure was assessed by analyzing field soil, sunflower pollen and nectar, honey bees (pollen and nectar foraging) and a sunflower specialist wild bee, Melissodes agilis. Samples were extracted via pressurized liquid extraction (except nectar which underwent a room temperature solvent extraction) with an organic solvent followed by solid phase extraction cleanup. Samples were analyzed for 168 pesticides and degradates using both gas and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. While only one of the three seed coating pesticides (thaimethoxam) was detected, 25 other pesticides and degradates were also measured. In total, 5 insecticides, 9 herbicides, 7 fungicides, and 5 degradates detected across all matrices. There were 7 pesticides and degradates detected in M. agilis, 4 in honey bees, 6 in nectar, 6 in pollen, and 23 in soil. These results indicate the bees visiting sunflower fields are exposed to more pesticides than those used as seed coatings including those pesticides applied to other nearby crops (e.g., rice, tomatoes and walnuts).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/ecfe5a0b0abf32a3e36929559bc9e9ef
Identifier USGS:5f90546882cec5ff998af3a6
Data Last Modified 20230615
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id b54b3d0f-3444-43b3-afa6-7ad482d75d4a
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -121.6269,38.6276,-121.5239,38.8397
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 06832026d806f2d4fe71674ce5ed5d58c9065e8446865ec35e55c4ef9d16605e
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -121.6269, 38.6276, -121.6269, 38.8397, -121.5239, 38.8397, -121.5239, 38.6276, -121.6269, 38.6276}

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