Residues of neonicotinoids and their metabolites in honey and pollen from sunflower and maize seed dressing crops

• Neonicotinoids from coated seed sunflower crops reached the collected pollen.
• Accurate mass tools allowed the identification of metabolites in honey and pollen.
• Four metabolites in honey and eleven in pollen were tentative identified.
• Five metabolites were considered new degradation products in sunflower and maize plants.

A study was carried out to evaluate the possible presence of thiamethoxam, clothianidin and imidacloprid, as well as the metabolic breakdown products of these three neonicotinoids in pollen and honey obtained from brood chamber combs of honeybee colonies located next to sunflower and maize crops from coated seeds. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry detector, in combination with accurate mass tools such as diagnostic ions by exact mass, chlorine mass filters, and MS/MS experiments. The presence of thiamethoxam and clothianidin was confirmed in some of the pollen samples analyzed. Moreover, different metabolites of neonicotinoids were tentatively detected in the pollen and honey samples collected. The results suggested that four metabolites were found in the honey samples, while for pollen samples eleven metabolites were identified; among these, five were considered for the first time as metabolic breakdown products in sunflower and maize plants.