A large-scale survey of house sparrows feathers reveals ubiquitous presence of neonicotinoids in farmlands

Neonicotinoids also kill pollinators.

clothianidin,  which is the pesticide found at highest concentrations in the study, is used very commonly locally, by vineyards such as Korbel, Foley Family Wines, Dutton Ranch, Mononi Ranches, and Constellation Wines. All of these vineyards also spray this pesticide within 1/4 miles of Sonoma County public schools.

A large-scale survey of house sparrows feathers reveals ubiquitous presence of neonicotinoids in farmlands

Highlights

We quantified neonicotinoids in 146 feather samples of house sparrows living on organic, integrated-production and conventional farms using UHPLC-MS/MS.

All samples were positive for neonicotinoids.

Thiacloprid was the most prevalent (99% of samples) and clothianidin attained the highest levels (up to 131.4 ppb).

Feathers of birds living on conventional farms showed higher concentrations than in the other farms.

Our results highlight the extent to which farmland birds are exposed to neonicotinoids, and hence the extent of contamination of our agroecosystems

Abstract

The massive use of neonicotinoid insecticides has been repeatedly incriminated for their impacts to avian populations.

Some studies have reported contamination of granivorous birds by neonicotinoids but very little is known about exposure to neonicotinoids in other bird species.

To fill this lack of knowledge, we trapped house sparrows Passer domesticus, an omnivorous bird whose diet is composed of both grains and insects,

and we collected 617 feathers from individuals living on 47 conventional, integrated-production (IP-Suisse) and organic farms distributed all over the Swiss plateau, the country’s main agricultural area.

We then assessed the concentration of five neonicotinoids in 146 pools of feathers.

We found that all feather samples were contaminated by at least one neonicotinoid at measurable concentration (>LOQ), with thiacloprid accounting for most of the prevalence (99%),

while clothianidin was found at highest concentrations (with averages ranging from 1.68 to 9.2 ppb).

Additionally, house sparrows living on conventional farms showed higher concentrations of neonicotinoids (15.26 ± 3.58 ppb) than individuals living on IP-Suisse (3.38 ± 0.86 ppb), and organic farms (2.59 ± 0.56 pp

 Our large-scale survey highlights how ubiquitous neonicotinoid insecticides have become in agricultural habitats, and reveals generalized exposure of house sparrows, and potentially other species inhabiting farmlands, to neonicotinoids.