About three-fourths of honey from around the world contains some pesticides, according to a study published in Science Friday.
The study found that 75% of honey samples collected from nearly 200 sites across the globe contained at least one of five kinds of pesticides called neonicotinoids. Researchers tested 198 samples of honey from every continent, excluding Antarctica, and found that 45% of the samples contained two or more of the compounds that make up the pesticide and that 10% had at least four or five compounds.
“Our results confirm the exposure of bees to neonicotinoids in their food throughout the world,” researchers wrote. “The coexistence of neonicotinoids and other pesticides may increase harm to pollinators.”
Previous studies have found that neonicotinoids, which are a common type of insecticide, can impair the brain function of bees and slow down the growth of their colonies. The recent findings in Science suggest that bees throughout the world are exposed to neonicotinoids at a massive scale. Of the honey sampled, North America had the highest proportion of samples that had neonicotinoids at 86%, followed by Asia at 80% and Europe at 79%.
- How an Alleged Spy Balloon Derailed an Important U.S.-China Meeting
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- Column: Elon Musk Should Not Be in Charge of the Night Sky
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
- 80 for Brady May Not Be a Masterpiece. But the World Needs More Movies Like This
