Elemental Analysis of Honey as an Indicator of Pollution

Abstract

Nineteen samples of honey taken from grocery shelves, near zinc mines, adjacent to an industrial area, and near a major highway, and one sample collected in 1899 were subjected to spark source mass spectrometry to determine the concentration of most of 47 elements in the honey.

Certain samples of honey produced by bees in the vicinity of the New York State Thruway appeared to contain elevated levels of certain elements known to be emitted by traffic, such as aluminum, barium, calcium, copper, magnesium, nickel, palladium, and silicon, but the true source of these elements was uncertain. Honey that had come into contact with metal containers in processing contained the greatest amounts of zinc and tin.