Bee honey as environmental indicator for pollution with heavy metals

Abstract

Heavy metals are considered among the most important potentially harmful pollutants. Nine heavy metals, Co, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn, were determined in total 192 samples (96 soil, 48 flower, and 48 honey samples), which were collected from polluted areas (Edfu and Kom Omb cities) and unpolluted areas (Esna and Aneeba cities) at Aswan district, Egypt. Metal concentrations were measured using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results revealed that honey in polluted areas showed higher concentrations of Cu, Pb, Fe, and Zn than honey from unpolluted areas. This is related to the pollution input from industry activities in polluted areas. A study of metal concentrations in flowers revealed that flowers contained the highest levels of the studied metals than those in honey. The presence of these metals in plant flowers were correlated with their presence in corresponding honey. Concentration factors of heavy metal for honey/flower in polluted areas seem to be higher than in that of the unpolluted ones. Element concentrations in the honey under study were in the safety baseline levels for human consumption. Results suggested that honey may be useful as an environmental indicator for assessing the presence of environmental pollution with heavy metals.

Keywords:

• bee honey
• heavy metals
• biomarker
• toxic metals
• plant
• environment