Clothianidin in agricultural soils and uptake into corn pollen and canola nectar after multiyear seed treatment applications

Abstract

Limited data are available on the fate of clothianidin under realistic agricultural production conditions. The present study is the first large-scale assessment of clothianidin residues in soil and bee-relevant matrices from corn and canola fields after multiple years of seed-treatment use. The average soil concentration from 50 Midwest US corn fields with 2 yr to 11 yr of planting clothianidin-treated seeds was 7.0 ng/g, similar to predicted concentrations from a single planting of Poncho 250-treated corn seeds (6.3 ng/g). The water-extractable (i.e., plant-bioavailable) clothianidin residues in soil were only 10% of total residues. Clothianidin concentrations in soil reached a plateau concentration (amount applied equals amount dissipated) in fields with 4 or more application years. Concentrations in corn pollen from these fields were low (mean: 1.8 ng/g) with no correlation to total years of use or soil concentrations. For canola, soil concentrations from 27 Canadian fields with 2 yr to 4 yr of seed treatment use (mean = 5.7 ng/g) were not correlated with use history, and plant bioavailability was 6% of clothianidin soil residues. Average canola nectar concentrations were 0.6 ng/g and not correlated to use history or soil concentrations. Under typical cropping practices, therefore, clothianidin residues are not accumulating significantly in soil, plant bioavailability of residues in soil is limited, and exposure to pollinators will not increase over time in fields receiving multiple applications of clothianidin.

Keywords: Adsorption; Bioavailability; Clothianidin; Fate and transport; Neonicotinoid; Pollen.

Figure 1

Cropping density and sampling site locations for corn field collection sites in the US (top) 13 and canola field collections in Canada (bottom) 15.

Figure 2

(A) Comparison of clothianidin concentration in soil with years of clothianidin use for corn sites. Red lines indicate theoretical concentration from a single application of clothianidin‐treated seeds for 3 formulations. (B) Comparison of bioavailable fraction expressed as percentage of total clothianidin residues in soil with years of clothianidin use for corn sites.

Figure 3

(A) Comparison of clothianidin concentration in soil with years of clothianidin use for canola sites. Red lines indicate theoretical concentration from a single application of clothianidin‐treated seeds. (B) Comparison of plant‐bioavailable fraction of total clothianidin in soil with years of clothianidin use for canola sites.

Figure 4

Soil concentrations of clothianidin (ng/g) in the top 30 cm for each of 3 field trials throughout the 7‐yr experiment: field sites located in (A) Germany, (B) France, (C) United Kingdom.

Figure 5

(A) Comparison of clothianidin concentration in corn pollen with years of clothianidin use, and (B) comparison of clothianidin concentrations in soil and corn pollen from the same field sites.

Figure 6

(A) Comparison of clothianidin concentration in canola nectar with years of clothianidin use, and (B) comparison of clothianidin concentration in soil and canola nectar from the same field sites.