Risk characterization to glyphosate in honeybee and consumer´s exposed to honeybee-collected pollen in southeastern Mexico

Abstract The objective of this study was to estimate the risk that glyphosate residues in pollen pose to honey bees and humans. From June 2015 to May 2016, we quantified glyphosate from freshly collected pollen from ten colonies from two sites in Chiapas, Mexico. Residues were extracted by the QUECHERS method and analyzed using a standardized enzymatic immunoassay. Glyphosate was detected in all samples (3.71–7.29 µgkg− 1). Risk analysis (pollen hazard quotient) indicates that such quantities do not pose an acute threat to honey bees and humans, according to ADI/ARfD – AOEL values. In conclusion, we found that the risks that glyphosate in pollen represent to human and honey bees are apparently low in our study site.