Toxic effects on bees and pollinators

Italian national experts: 
Edith Ladurner, CBC Europe, Biogard Division, Cesena (FC)
Monica Colli, Biotecnologie BT S.r.l. Società con Unico Socio, Pantalla (PG)
Piotr Medrzycki, CREA, Bologna

Within the OECD Environment Health and Safety Program, special attention is paid to the decline of bees, not only of managed species, such as Apis mellifera and Bombus terrestris, but also of native species. Several factors, such as habitat destruction, predators, certain agricultural practices, bee management practices, pathogens, climate change, nutrition and pesticides, now called plant protection products, are supposed to be associated with these declines.

The work carried out by OECD for the protection of bees and pollinators also includes the development of standardized methods and guidelines for the laboratory, semi-field and field tests for assessing the risk of pesticides to these insects. These guidelines allow a scientific evaluation of both acute and chronic toxicity effects of pesticides on managed adult bees and their brood. In addition, the development of a guideline for the evaluation of acute toxicity effects on a native solitary bee species (Osmia spp.) and one for the evaluation of sublethal effects, such as effects on orientation, on foragers of Apis mellifera is in progress. This work is being conducted under the supervision of the Working Group on Pesticides (WGP) and the Working Group of National Coordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme (WNT).

The national experts for the Test Guidelines concerning bees and pollinators are Dr. Edith Ladurner, Dr. Monica Colli and Dr. Piotr Medrzycki.

Edith Ladurner started doing research on bees while preparing her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and continued doing research on pollinators (not just honeybees, but also bumblebees and solitary bees) for several years. Her research topics included the biology of native pollinators, the use of pollinators for pollinating cultivated crops, and studies on the effects of pesticides on honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees. She currently works at CBC Europe, Biogard division, and is responsible for the efficacy evaluation of plant protection products approved for use in organic farming.

Monica Colli, Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture with specialization in plant protection and entomology, performs ecotoxicological tests on beneficial organisms. In particular, she conducts studies to evaluate the toxicity of plant protection products on bees and pollinators. Currently she works as head of the ecotoxicology unit and study director for tests on bees and beneficials at the GLP (Good Laboratory Practice)-certified testing facility Biotechnologie BT.

Piotr Medrzycki has as a scientific background related to the biological control of phytophagous pests (Bachelor of Science degree and PhD). After that he started working on honeybees and native pollinators by performing studies on the use of honeybees and native pollinators as bioindicators of the state of health of the territory as well as non-target organisms of agronomic practices. Currently, as a CREA researcher, he is mainly involved in the evaluation of the effects of plant protection products on bees.