Adult Honeybees and Beeswax as Indicators of Trace Elements Pollution in a Vulnerable Environment: Distribution among Different Apicultural Compartments.

ABSTRACT: Bees in search of diet sources intensively fly within a radius of up to 3 km, encountering nectar, pollen, and water sources which are potentially contaminated. Consequently, their products can provide valuable information about potential pollution. In the current study, 27 macro and trace elements, including the most hazardous ones, were measured in bees, honey, wax, pollen, and larvae, obtained from seven explicitly industrial areas in eastern regions of Slovakia, using a validated ICP-MS method. All the analysed elements were detected at least in one matrix. The detected concentrations of toxic elements, such as Hg, Pb, and Cd were in some cases higher in wax and bee samples, compared with honey, larvae, and pollen. In particular, Pb and Hg maximum concentrations were detected in the wa

SUBMITTER: Zafeiraki E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9572923 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature