Forever chemicals build up in wildflowers and pollen, raising pollinator exposure concerns
Leippert GY, Gilvarg SC, Satchwell MF, Green TM, Newman LA
Pollinators
If you plant or forage huckleberries and blueberries near contaminated ground, the flowers your local bees visit could be carrying so-called forever chemicals that the soil handed up to them.
Researchers sampled soil, leaves, flowers, and pollen from plants in a forest known to be polluted with forever chemicals. Every species they tested had at least one of these chemicals in its flowers or pollen, and some tissues held far more than the soil around them. That means bees and other pollinators feeding there could be picking them up, although this small survey can't prove it yet.
Key Findings
Bioconcentration factors (tissue concentration relative to soil) in flowers and pollen ranged from 0 to 2,420, with many PFAS compounds exceeding 1 (bioaccumulation) and some exceeding 10 (hyperaccumulation).
At least one PFAS compound was detected in the flower or pollen of every plant species sampled.
For some compounds, flower and pollen concentrations matched or exceeded those in leaves, including in entomophilous species such as huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) and lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum).
chevron_right Technical Summary
Wild plants growing in a PFAS-contaminated forest packed the chemicals into their flowers and pollen, sometimes at concentrations over 2,000 times the level in the soil. Bees and other pollinators visiting those blooms could be exposed, though this early survey didn't measure that directly.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
(Hyper)bioaccumulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the flowers and pollen of wild plants: a potential pollinator exposure pathway.
Pollinator decline is a well-documented global trend that threatens the stability of both natural and agricultural systems, prompting further investigation into its causes. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia.