Honeybee products as potential bioindicators of heavy metals contamination from Northern Vietnam

Tran Thi Ngat; Truong Xuan Lam; Hoang Gia Minh; Nguyen Thi Phuong Lien

doi:10.15625/1811-4989/18/2/15086

Author affiliations

Authors

Tran Thi Ngat Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources
Truong Xuan Lam
Hoang Gia Minh
Nguyen Thi Phuong Lien

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15625/1811-4989/18/2/15086

Keywords:

heavy metal, contamination, Apis cerana, honey, pollen, beewax

Abstract

Contamination of heavy metals (As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Sn) in honeybee products (Apis cerana) from Northern Vietnam is determined. The study was carried out in two main harvesting seasons of beekeeper farms (April and October), over two years (2018-2019). A total of 72 samples from 24 honeybee hives from 8 provinces and one city were collected. The results showed that the quality of three products in nearly all research sites were met the standards in accordance with the national technical regulation on the limits of heavy metal contamination in food of the Vietnamese Health Ministry, except for the pollen and beeswax from HY2 site. The concentration of Pb was most notably value in this study, which was determined at fairly high levels in pollen (3,767 mg/kg) and beeswax (5,840 mg/kg) from HY2 site. This can be a warning for this metal significant contamination in the habitat. Specially, Hg was not detected in most samples or only recorded without significant. For the environmental types, the mean value of As and Sn in all honeybee’s product types in semi-rural area were higher than that in rural area. Thus, the detection of the heavy metals proves that honeybee’s products could be good indicators to detect the environmental contaminants and monitor the habitat quality of a particular area

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Anyanwu BO, Ezejiofor AN, Igweze ZN, Orisakwe OE (2018) Heavy Metal Mixture Exposure and Effects in Developing Nations: An Update. Toxics 6(4): 65.

Bogdanov S (2006) Contaminants of bee products Apidologie 37:1-18.

Bradl H (2002) Heavy Metals in the Environment: Origin, Interaction and Remediation Volume 6. Academic Press, London: 1-10.

Bromenshenk JJ, Carlson SR, Simpson JC, Thomas JM (1985) Pollution monitoring of Puget Sound with honey bees. Science 227(4687): 632-634.

Costa A, Veca M, Barberis M, Tosti A, Notaro G, Nava S, Lazzari M, Agazzi A, Tangorra FM (2019) Heavy metals on honeybees indicate their concentration in the atmosphere. a proof of concept. Intalian Journal of Animal Science 18(1): 309-315.

Crane E (1984) Bees, honey and pollen as indicators of metals in the environment. Bee World 55: 47-49.

Fergusson JE (1990) The Heavy Elements: Chemistry, Environmental Impact and Health Effects. Pergamon Press, Oxford: 211-212.

Goretti E, Pallottini M, Rossi R, La Porta G, Gardi T, Cenci Goga BT, Elia AC, Galletti M, Moroni B, Petroselli C, Selvaggi R, Cappelletti D (2020) Heavy metal bioaccumulation in honey bee matrix, an indicator to assess the contamination level in terrestrial environments. Environmental Pollution 256: 113388.

He ZL, Yang XE, Stoffella PJ (2005) Trace elements in agroecosystems and impacts on the environment. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 19(2–3): 125-140.

Höffel I (1985) Heavy metals in bees and bee’s products. Apidologie 16: 196 [In German].

Jan AT, Azam M, Siddiqui K, Ali A, Choi I, Haq QMR (2015) Heavy Metals and Human Health: Mechanistic Insight into Toxicity and Counter Defense System of Antioxidants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 16: 29592-29630.

Kabata-Pendia A, Mukhejee AB (2007) Trace Elements from Soil to Human. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 550 pp.

Manzoor M, Mathivanan V, Nabi Shah G, Mir GM, Selvisabhanayakam (2013) Physico-chemical analysis of honey of Apis cerana indica and Apis mellifera from different regions of Anantnag District, Jammu & Kashmir. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 5(3): 635-638.

Naccari C, Macaluso A, Giangrosso G, Naccari F, Ferrantelli V (2014) Risk assessment of heavy metals and pesticides in honey from Sicily (Italy). Journal of Food Research 3(2): 107-117.

Nguyen MP, Nguyen DD, Truong LX, Nguyen LTP (2015) A survey of heavy metal content in honeybees (Apis cerana Fabricius) and bee product from different areas of Hanoi. Processdings of the 6th National Scientific Conference on Ecology and Biological Resources. Publishing House for Science and Technology, Hanoi: 1515-1519.

Perna A, Simonetti A, Intaglietta I, Sofo A, Gambacorta E (2012) Metal content of southern Italy honey of different botanical origins and its correlation with polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 47: 1909-1917.

Perugini M, Manera M, Grotta L, Abete MC, Tarasco R, Amorena M (2011) Heavy metal (Hg, Cr, Cd, and Pb) contamination in Urban Areas and Wildlife Reserves: Honeybees as Bioindicators. Biol Trace Elem Res 140: 170-176.

Perugini M, Serafino GD, Giacomelli A, Medrzycki P, Sabatini AG, Oddo LP, Marinelli E, Amorena M (2009) Monitoring of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbans in Bees (Apis mellifera) and Honey in Urban Areas and Wildlife Reserve. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57: 7440-7444.

Pham TH (2014) Beekeeping curriculum. Agricultural University Press, Hanoi, 129 pages [In Vietnamese].

Phung CH, Vu LV (1999) Beekeeping technique (Apis cerana) in Vietnam. Publishing House Agriculture, Hanoi, 306 pages [In Vietnamese].

Popescu IV, Dima G, Dinu S (2010) The content of heavy metals in pollen from Dambovita region. Journal of Science and Arts 1(12): 171-174.

Porrini C, Caprio E, Tesoriero D, Prisco GD (2014) Using honey bee as bioindicator of chemicals in Campanian agroecosystems (South Italy). Bulletin of Insectology 67(1): 137-146.

The Minisity of Heath (2011) QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT: National technical regulation on the limits of heavy metal contamination in food [In Vietnamese].

Roman A (2004) The heavy metals content in bees’ nectar and mature honey. Scientific Exercise Books of Agricultural University in Wrocław, LI 501: 297 [In Polish].

Ru QM, Feng Q, He JZ (2013) Risk assessment of heavy metals in honey consumed in Zhejiang province, southeastern China. Food Chemistry Toxicology 53: 256-262.

Ruschioni S, Riolo P, Minuz RL, Stefano M, Cannella M, Porrini C, Isidoro N (2013) Biomonitoring with honeybees of heavy metals and pesticides in natural reserves of the Marche region (Italy). Biol Trace Elem Res 154(2), 226-33.

U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency (2007) Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, 6020a Method for determination of over 60 elements in various matrices, Revision 1: 1-20.

Vincevica-Gaile Z, Klavins M, Rudovica V, Viksna A (2012) Potentially toxic metals in honey from Latvia: Is there connection with botanical origin? In: Ramos R.A.R., Straupe I., Panagopoulos T. (eds.) Recent Researches in Environment, Energy Systems and Sustainability. WSEAS Press, Faro: 158-163.

Voorspoels S, Covaci A, Maervoet J, De Meester I, Schepens P (2004) Levels and profiles of PCBs and OCPs in marine benthic species from the Belgian North Sea and the Western Scheldt Estuary. Mar Poll Bull 49: 393-404.

Zhelyazkova I (2012) Honeybees – bioindictors for environmental quality. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science 18: 435-442.