Human activities produce contaminants, the amounts and toxicity of which often exceed the environment’s homeostatic capacity to cleanse itself. Hence, the systematic analysis and monitoring of the environment is increasingly a matter of urgency. Honey bees, thanks to their morphological features, and also bee products are regarded as good indicators of environmental pollution by toxic substances, be these heavy metals, radioactive...

Concentration levels of 30 pesticide residues were measured in honey samples collected from apiaries in northern part of Poland (Pomerania) using method based on the QuEChERS extraction followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with electron spray ionization (LC-ESI-MS/MS). In 29% of the samples were found positive for at least some of the target compounds. Concentration of bifenthrin, fenpyroximate, methidathion,...

Honey, a valuable food product, may be contaminated by xenobiotics during its production and/or harvest. The determination of trace levels of contaminants in a complex matrix like honey still presents a challenge to analytical chemists. The aim of this work was to assess and compare the extraction efficiencies of 30 pesticide residues (acaricides, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides), belonging to over 15 different chemical classes....