PubMed · 2026-05-28
Scientists built a computer model that tracks how pesticides travel from treated seeds and soil up through corn plants all the way into pollen, where bees collect it. The model accurately predicted pesticide levels in pollen from real field experiments and found that certain long-lasting, water-soluble chemicals are especially likely to end up in pollen.
Pesticide half-lives in corn pollen were fitted at 0.2 to 0.9 days for imidacloprid, closely matching observed spray-application data.
The model shows that mobile, persistent, and nonvolatile chemicals in soil are most likely to be translocated into pollen, posing the greatest risk to pollinators.
The framework can also flag risks from non-pesticide contaminants — such as pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals — entering farmland through reclaimed wastewater or sewage sludge.
