>> Organosiloxane surfactants, the most novel class of non-ionic surfactants in agrochemical formulations, have been widely used around hives or in honey bee foraging areas as pesticide spray adjuvants. <snip> >> This information will allow for the first time development of an analytical method to quantify organosiloxane residues in bees and other hive samples and environmental matrices. Now, this will be most interesting, and may reveal more ingredients of the chemical soup in our hives. I wonder what kind of interactions are possible? We have been speculating about the question of so-called inert ingredients for years. It has been reported here, for example, that two different brands of a fungicide had differing toxicities to bees. We have wondered who decides than an ingredient is indeed inert -- especially if it is an important part of the formulation and contributes to efficacy. While water is a carrier, the other components obviously -- to me at least -- are active in some fashion and should be considered alone and in combination. While a perceived overly-accepting approach to new pesticides by the regulators and approval of new products on the basis of non-public research selectively supplied by applicants has been widely criticized, the apparent free pass given to so-called inert ingredients may be the real worry. *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at: http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm