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Honey Bees and Their Products as Indicators of Environmental Element Deposition

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate element (sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and lead) deposition in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) (worker bees, drone bees, and bee broods) and their products (wax and multifloral honey) in the central and north parts of Serbia using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study was carried out during the spring and summer seasons when the honeybees were active (2019). Fifty-four colonies of honey bees from different apiaries (located in Rudnik, Lazarevac, and Ležimir) were used in this study. Significant differences in element concentrations were found among locations (P < 0.05). The highest deposition of elements (sodium, calcium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium) was found in worker bees. The most commonly detected elements in wax were chromium and lead. Mg had a significant (P < 0.01) correlation with K, Fe, Cu, and As. This study shows that honey bees (worker bees, drone bees, and bee broods) could be more useful as bioindicators of environmental element deposition (toxic and non-toxic) than multifloral honey. Also, this study shows that Serbian multifloral honey meets safety criteria concerning the concentrations of toxic elements.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this study was conducted within Projects TR 31034 (selected biological hazards to the safety/quality of food of animal origin and the control measures from farm to consumer) funded by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Meat Hygiene and Technology, 11000, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

    Jelena Ćirić, Danka Spirić, Tatjana Baltić, Ivana Branković Lazić, Dejana Trbović, Nenad Parunović, Radivoj Petronijević & Vesna Đorđević

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Correspondence to Jelena Ćirić.

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Ćirić, J., Spirić, D., Baltić, T. et al. Honey Bees and Their Products as Indicators of Environmental Element Deposition. Biol Trace Elem Res 199, 2312–2319 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02321-6

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