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Best Paper Award
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This award citation recognizes a study on mechanistic modeling of pesticide exposure in honey bees. While unrelated to microplastics, it illustrates how mechanistic exposure modeling — also used in microplastic risk assessment — is important for connecting environmental concentrations of pollutants to biological impacts.
Mechanistic modeling of pesticide exposure: The missing keystone of honey bee toxicology Douglas B. Sponsler and Reed M. Johnson DOI: 10.1002/etc.3661 The environmental impact of chemicals in general and of pesticides in particular, is a topic of intense debate. Although it is broadly acknowledged that some pesticides pose a risk to ecosystems, there is controversy on the exact impacts of pesticide exposure. This controversy has recently centered on neonicotinoid insecticides and their possible role in insect decline in general and in honey bee losses in particular. Partly, the controversy is fueled by the fact that while laboratory experiments have clearly established the potential of adverse effects on individual bees, field studies fail to detect colony-level effects. The critical review of Sponsler and Johnson (2017) highlights a critical gap in the field of honey bee toxicology because there exists little mechanistic understanding of the patterns and processes of exposure that link honey bees to pesticides in the environment. A key finding is that honey bee exposure is distributional and not discrete, because only a subset of foraging bees may acquire harmful doses of pesticides with subsequent in-hive distribution of pesticides being driven by food transfer interactions between colony members. Clear guidance to future development of rigorous mechanistic models of honey bee pesticide exposure is provided that is to be combined with mechanistic effects modeling to integrate the field of honey bee toxicology and advance both risk assessment and basic research. Clearly, this is urgently needed—if only within the light of the current discussions on the role of pesticides in insect decline. This critical review by no doubt offers a major contribution to the future protection of insecticide health. Figure 1 Best Paper Award winner Douglas B. Sponsler. Sponsler DB, Johnson RM. 2017. Mechanistic modeling of pesticide exposure: The missing keystone of honey bee toxicology. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:871–881. Willie J.G.M Peijnenburg Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the Environment Bilthoven, The Netherlands Toxicity reference values for methylmercury effects on avian reproduction: Critical review and analysis P.C. Fuchsman, L.E. Brown, M.H. Henning, M.J. Bock, and V.S. Magar DOI:10.1002/etc.3606 Investigating the role of dissolved and droplet oil on aquatic toxicity using dispersed and passive dosing systems A.D. Redman, J.D. Butler, D.J. Letinski, and T.F. Parkerton DOI:10.1002/etc.3624 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4157 Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) Passive dosing of triclosan in multi-generation tests with copepods – Stable exposure concentrations and effects at the low μg L-1 range A. Ribbenstedt, L. Mustajärvi, M. Breitholtz, E. Gorokhova, P. Mayer, and A. Sobek DOI:10.1002/etc.3649 Ingestion of Bt rice pollen does not reduce the survival or hypopharyngeal gland development of Apis mellifera adults Y. Wang, P. Dai, X. Chen, J. Romeis, J. Shi, Y. Peng, and Y. Li DOI:10.1002/etc.3647 Not all that glitters is gold—Electron microscopy study on uptake of gold nanoparticles in Daphnia magna and related artefacts L.H.S. Jensen, L.M. Skjolding, A. Thit, S.N. Sørensen, C. Købler, K. Mølhave, and A. Baun DOI:10.1002/etc.3697 Method to account for the effect of hydrodynamics on polar organic compound uptake by passive samplers K. Booij, N.L. Maarsen, M. Theeuwen, and R. van Bommel DOI:10.1002/etc.3700 Effect of natural organic matter on the photo-induced toxicity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles A.M. Wormington, J. Coral, M.M. Alloy, C.L. Delmarè, C.M. Mansfield, S.J. Klaine, J.H. Bisesi, and A.P. Roberts DOI:10.1002/etc.3702 Advancing the quality of environmental microplastic research K.A. Connors, S.D. Dyer, and S.E. Belanger DOI:10.1002/etc.3829 Androgens and androgenic activity in broiler manure assessed by means of chemical analyses and in vitro bioassays A. Valdehita, M-L. Fernández-Cruz, M.I. González-Gullón, E. Becerra-Neira, M.M. Delgado, M.C. García-González, and J.M. Navas DOI:10.1002/etc.3495 How consistent are we? Interlaboratory comparison study in fathead minnows using the model estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol to develop recommendations for environmental transcriptomics A. Feswick, M. Isaacs, A. Biales, R.W. Flick, D.C. Bencic, R-L. Wang, C. Vulpe, M. Brown-Augustine, A. Loguinov, F. Falciani, P. Antczak, J. Herbert, L. Brown, N.D. Denslow, K.J. Kroll, C. Lavelle, V. Dang, L. Escalon, N. Garcia-Reyero, C.J. Martyniuk, and K.R. Munkittrick DOI:10.1002/etc.3799 Bergmann AJ, Tanguay RL, Anderson KA. 2017. Using passive sampling and zebrafish to identify developmental toxicants in complex mixtures. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:2290–2298. DOI:10.1002/etc.3802. Booij K, Maarsen NL, Theeuwen M, van Bommel R. 2017. Method to account for the effect of hydrodynamics on polar organic compound uptake by passive samplers. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1517–1524. DOI:10.1002/etc.3700. Brown DR, Thompson J, Chernick M, Hinton DE, Di Giulio RT. 2017. Later life swimming performance and persistent heart damage following subteratogenic PAH mixture exposure in the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus). Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3246–3253. DOI:10.1002/etc.3877. Bundschuh M, Schulz R, Schäfer RB, Allen CR, Angeler DG. 2017. Resilience in Ecotoxicology: Towards a multiple equilibrium concept. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:2574–2580. DOI:10.1002/etc.3845. Connors KA, Dyer SD, Belanger SE. 2017. Advancing the quality of environmental microplastic research. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1697–1703. DOI:10.1002/etc.3829. Cusaac JPW, Mimbs, IV WH, Belden JB, Smith LM, McMurry ST. 2017. Factors influencing the toxicity of Headline® fungicide to terrestrial stage toads. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:2679–2688. DOI:10.1002/etc.3816. Egea-Serrano A, Solé M. 2017. Effects of insecticides on a phytotelmata-breeding amphibian. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:422–428. DOI:10.1002/etc.3555. Erickson RJ, Mount DR, Highland TL, Hockett JR, Hoff DJ, Jenson CT, Norberg-King TJ, Peterson KN. 2017. The acute toxicity of major ion salts to Ceriodaphnia dubia. II. Empirical relationships in binary salt mixtures. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1525–1537. DOI:10.1002/etc.3669. Ferrão-Filho ADS, Silva DDAS, De Oliveira TA, Magalhaes VFD, Pflugmacher S, Da Silva EM. 2017. Single and combined effects of microcystins and saxitoxins producer cyanobacteria on the fitness and antioxidant defenses of cladocerans. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:2689–2697. DOI:10.1002/etc.3819. Feswick A, Isaacs M, Biales A, Flick RW, Bencic DC, Wang R-L, Vulpe C, Brown-Augustine M, Loguinov A, Falciani F, Antczak P, Herbert J, Brown L, Denslow ND, Kroll KJ, Lavelle C, Dang V, Escalon L, Garcia-Reyero N, Martyniuk CJ, Munkittrick KR. 2017. How consistent are we? Interlaboratory comparison study in fathead minnows using the model estrogen 17α-ethinylestradiol to develop recommendations for environmental transcriptomics. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:2614–2623. DOI:10.1002/etc.3799. Fuchsman PC, Brown LE, Henning MH, Bock MJ, Magar VS. 2017. Toxicity reference values for methylmercury effects on avian reproduction: Critical review and analysis. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:294–319. DOI:10.1002/etc.3606. He E, Qiu H, Qiu R, Rentenaar C, Devresse Q, Van Gestel CAM. 2017. Time-dependent uptake and toxicity of nickel to Enchytraeus crypticus in the presence of humic acid and fulvic acid. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3019–3027. DOI:10.1002/etc.3870. Jensen LHS, Skjolding LM, Thit A, Sørensen SN, Købler C, Mølhave K, Baun A. 2017. Not all that glitters is gold − Electron microscopy study on uptake of gold nanoparticles in Daphnia magna and related artefacts. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1503–1509. DOI:10.1002/etc.3697. Kim J, Xu S. 2017. Quantitative structure-reactivity relationships of hydroxyl radical rate constants for linear and cyclic volatile methylsiloxanes. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3240–3245. DOI:10.1002/etc.3914. Maloney EM, Morrissey CA, Headley JV, Peru KM, Liber K. 2017. Cumulative toxicity of neonicotinoid insecticide mixtures to Chironomus dilutus under acute exposure scenario. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3091–3101. DOI:10.1002/etc.3878. Mebane CA, Schmidt TS, Balistrieri LS. 2017. Larval aquatic insect responses to cadmium and zinc in experimental streams. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:749–762. DOI:10.1002/etc.3599. Perkins M, Barst BD, Hadrava J, Basu N. 2017. Mercury speciation and subcellular distribution in experimentally-dosed and wild birds. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3289–3298. DOI:10.1002/etc.3905. Redman AD, Butler JD, Letinski DJ, Parkerton TF. 2017. Investigating the role of dissolved and droplet oil on aquatic toxicity using dispersed and passive dosing systems. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1020–1028. DOI:10.1002/etc.3624. Ribbenstedt A, Mustajärvi L, Breitholtz M, Gorokhova E, Mayer P, Sobek A. 2017. Passive dosing of triclosan in multi-generation tests with copepods − Stable exposure concentrations and effects at the low μg L-1 range. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1254–1260. DOI:10.1002/etc.3649. Rodriguez I, Fraga M, Alfonso A, Guillebault D, Medlin L, Baudart J, Jacob P, Helmi K, Meyer T, Breitenbach U, Holden NM, Boots B, Spurio R, Cimarelli L, Mancini L, Marcheggiani S, Albay M, Akcaalan R, Köker L, Botana LM. 2017. Monitoring of freshwater toxins in European environmental waters by using novel multi-detection methods Environ Toxicol Chem 36:645–654. DOI:10.1002/etc.3577. Sponsler DB, Johnson RM. 2017. Mechanistic modeling of pesticide exposure: The missing keystone of honey bee toxicology. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:871–881. DOI:10.1002/etc.3661. Stoler AB, Walker BM, Hintz WD, Jones DK, Lind L, Mattes BM, Schular MS, Relyea RA. 2017. Combined effects of road salt and an insecticide on wetland communities. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:771–779. DOI:10.1002/etc.3639. Syed Z, Alexander D, Ali J, Unrine J, Shoults-Wilson WA. 2017. Chemosensory cues alter earthworm (Eisenia fetida) avoidance of lead-contaminated soil. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:999–1004. DOI:10.1002/etc.3619. Valdehita A, Fernández-Cruz M-L, González-Gullón MI, Becerra-Neira E, Delgado MM, García-González MC, Navas JM. 2017. Androgens and androgenic activity in broiler manure assessed by means of chemical analyses and in vitro bioassays. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1746–1754. DOI:10.1002/etc.3495. Wang Y, Dai P, Chen X, Romeis J, Shi J, Peng Y, Li Y. 2017. Ingestion of Bt rice pollen does not reduce the survival or hypopharyngeal gland development of Apis mellifera adults. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1243–1248. DOI:10.1002/etc.3647. Wolf JC, Maack G. 2017. Evaluating the credibility of histopathology data in environmental endocrine toxicity studies. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:601–611. DOI:10.1002/etc.3695. Wormington AM, Coral J, Alloy MM, Delmarè CL, Mansfield CM, Klaine SJ, Bisesi JH, Roberts AP. 2017. Effect of natural organic matter on the photo-induced toxicity of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles. Environ Toxicol Chem 36:1661–1666. DOI:10.1002/etc.3702.
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