Lack of evidence for microplastic contamination in honey

ABSTRACT

Honey samples from Switzerland were investigated with regard to their microplastic particle burden. Five representative honey samples of different origin were processed following a standardized protocol to separate plastic-based microparticles from particles of natural origin, such as pollen, propolis, wax, and bee-related debris. The procedure was optimized to minimize post-sampling microplastic cross-contamination in the laboratory. The isolated microplastic particles were characterized and grouped by means of light microscopy as well as chemically characterized by microscopically coupled Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Five particle classes with an abundance significantly above blank levels were identified: black particles (particle count between 1760/kg and 8680/kg), white transparent fibres (particle count between 132/kg and 728/kg), white transparent particles (particle count between 60/kg and 172/kg), coloured fibres (particle count between 32/kg and 108/kg), and coloured particles (particle count between 8/kg and 64/kg). The black particles, which represented the majority of particles, were identified as char or soot and most probably originated from the use of smokers, a widespread practice in beekeeping. The majority of fibres were identified as cellulose or polyethylene terephthalate and were most likely of textile origin. In addition to these particle and fibre groups lower numbers of fragments were detected that were related to glass, polysaccharides or chitin, and few bluish particles contained copper phthalocyanine pigment. We found no indications that the honey samples were significantly contaminated with microplastic particles.

KEYWORDS:

• Honey
• bees
• beekeeping
• microplastic
• filtration
• particles
• fibres
• contamination
• identification
• FTIR
• Raman
• spectroscopy

Acknowledgements

We thank those Swiss beekeepers who have provided us with honey samples from different parts of Switzerland. We thank Tina Seckinger and Manuela Wolf for doing the honey filtration and Marco Solari for doing the FTIR-ATR measurements.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

Main parts of the study were funded by Apisuisse, Swiss Bee-Keepers’ Association.