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Evaluation of the risks for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in feed for honey bees.

ABSTRACT: The European Commission has asked the EFSA to evaluate the risk for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in honey bee feed. HMF is a degradation product of particular sugars and can be present in bee feed. HMF is of low acute toxicity in bees but causes increased mortality upon chronic exposure. A benchmark dose lower limit 10% (BMDL₁₀) of 1.16 μg HMF per bee per day has been calculated from mortalities observed in a 20-day study and established as a Reference Point covering also mortality in larvae, drones and queens for which no or insufficient toxicity data were available. Winter bees have a much longer lifespan than summer bees and HMF shows clear time reinforced toxicity (TRT) characteristics. Therefore, additional Reference Point intervals of 0.21-3.1, 0.091-1.1 and 0.019-0.35 µg HMF/bee per day were calculated based on extrapolation to exposure durations of 50, 90 and 180 days, respectively. A total of 219 analytical data of HMF concentrations in bee feed from EU Member States and 88 from Industry were available. Exposure estimates of worker bees and larvae ranged between 0.1 and 0.48, and between 0.1 and 0.51 μg HMF/per day, respectively. They were well below the BMDL₁₀ of 1.16 μg HMF/bee per day, and thus, no concern was identified. However, when accounting for TRT, the probability that exposures were below established reference point intervals was assessed to be extremely unlikely to almost certain depending on exposure duration. A concern for bee health was identified when bees are exposed to HMF contaminated bee feed for several months.

SUBMITTER: EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM)

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9019825 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluation of the risks for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in feed for honey bees.

Bodin Laurent L Del Mazo Jesús J Grasl-Kraupp Bettina B Hogstrand Christer C Leblanc Jean-Charles JC Bignami Margherita M Hoogenboom Laurentius Ron LR Nebbia Carlo Stefano CS Nielsen Elsa E Ntzani Evangelia E Petersen Annette A Schrenk Dieter D Vleminckx Christiane C Wallace Heather H Focks Andreas A Gregorc Ales A Metzler Manfred M Sgolastra Fabio F Tosi Simone S Horvath Zsuzsanna Z Ippolito Alessio A Rortais Agnes A Steinkellner Hans H Szentes Csaba C Sand Salomon S

EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority 20220420 4

The European Commission has asked the EFSA to evaluate the risk for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in honey bee feed. HMF is a degradation product of particular sugars and can be present in bee feed. HMF is of low acute toxicity in bees but causes increased mortality upon chronic exposure. A benchmark dose lower limit 10% (BMDL<sub>10</sub>) of 1.16 μg HMF per bee per day has been calculated from mortalities observed in a 20-day study and established as a Re ...[more]

PMID: 35475165

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Dataset Information

Evaluation of the risks for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in feed for honey bees.

Publications

Evaluation of the risks for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in feed for honey bees.

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