SYDNEY, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- An Australian study has found that the toxic "forever chemical" PFOS can accumulate in honeybee colonies and contaminate honey, threatening pollinators, food security, and potentially human health.
Researchers from the University of New England (UNE) in Australia monitored the effects of chronic sublethal exposure of PFOS on European honeybee colonies, a UNE release said Thursday.
The study showed that prolonged exposure to environmental levels of PFOS changed the expression of some key proteins responsible for cell function in the honeybee, it said.
"PFOS was detected in the body tissue of the new generation of juvenile bees, and these showed a lower body weight than the control bees without PFOS exposure," said UNE's Carolyn Sonter, who led the study published in Environmental Science & Technology.
"A lower body weight indicates a smaller bee with smaller glands, including the hypopharyngeal gland, which produces royal jelly to feed the next generation of bees," Sonter said.
"Any threat to bees threatens food security," said Sonter, warning that declining bee populations from such threats would gradually reduce crop pollination on a larger scale, risking food security with a less nutritious diet, as production of foods like berries, fruit, and most vegetables rely on bees for pollination.
PFOS, once common in firefighting foam and consumer products, persists in the environment where bees encounter it via contaminated dust, water, paint on beehives, crop protection products and pollen from plants growing in contaminated soil and water, researchers said. ■