re: "Why are [chemicals] an issue if they are bound [in wax]?

For the same reason that lead is still a problem even though it is bound in paint.  The statement that a chemical is "bound" is made with assumptions about the physical and metabolic pathways and exposures.  Lead is bound in paint and perfectly safe if all you're going to do is brush up against it.  But if you start chewing on the paint, you violate the assumptions and release the lead.  

 The other way to think about it is diffusion.  Carbon dioxide dissolves in water.  Expose distilled water to CO2 and some will be absorbed.  A tiny amount will be re-emitted but more will be absorbed than released and the CO2 concentration increases.  Fairly quickly, though, the CO2 reaches steady state - the rate of further absorption is matched by the rate of emission.  The rate of absorption and emission depends on the partial pressures of CO2 on either side of the water surface.

Fluvalinate in wax works the same way (though at a higher level of steady state concentration).  Initially, most will be bound but eventually it does percolate back out.  And even though the amount of fluvalinate leaking out of the cell walls is miniscule compared to the amount used during a treatment, the baby bee is in constant contact with it during her entire growth.  Even if it does not kill the brood, it will certainly stress it.

Mike Rossander



   

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