Widespread contamination of wildflower and bee-collected pollen with complex mixtures of neonicotinoids and fungicides commonly applied to crops

This study evaluated contamination of wildflowers located within 1 to 2 meters of agricultural fields where oilseed rape was grown. Focusing on the contamination of neonicotinoid insecticides and fungicides the authors found that both flowering crops and adjacent wildflowers were “heavily” contaminated with a broad range of pesticides. The frequency, range, and mean concentration of pesticides were generally lower in the wildflowers, although the highest single detection was from wildflower pollen. By also collecting and analyzing the pollen gathered by foraging bees, the authors further concluded that the contamination from both wildflowers and the crop contributed to bee exposures.