Earthworm, Plant and Soil Pesticide Residue Concentrations resulting from a Treated Wheat Seed Mesocosm Exposure

The most common application of neonicotinoid insecticides in agriculture is through the treatment of seeds before planting. Commercially formulated seed treatments are often sold as mixtures of various pesticides, fungicides and other treatments (e.g., plant growth regulators), the effects of which in non-target organisms are not well understood. To address this data gap, we assessed the effects of wheat seeds coated with the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam and four fungicides on the deep-burrowing earthworm Lumbricus terrestris. In this dataset, we examined changes in pesticide uptake and transfer to soil, plants and earthworms by determining pesticide residue concentrations in plant and earthworm tissues at the conclusion of the experiment, and soil concentrations at discrete timepoints throughout the 3 month exposure.