Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Córdoba (Spain) by biomonitoring foraging honeybee

Abstract

Due to features that make them outstanding environmental bioindicator, colonies of Apis mellifera are being used to study environmental pollution. The primary objective of this research was to use honeybee colonies to identify heavy metals and determine their utility for environmental management. Five stations each with two A. mellifera hives were strategically located in urban, industrial, agricultural and forested areas within the municipality of Córdoba (Spain), and foraging bees were collected from April to December in 2007, 2009 and 2010 to analyse spatial and temporal variation in Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd pollution. Metal concentrations, in milligram per kilogram of honeybee, were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Significant differences in concentrations were found among the various locations and periods. The highest number of values exceeding the upper reference thresholds proposed for this study (Pb, 0.7 mg/kg; Cr, 0.12 mg/kg; Ni, 0.3 mg/kg; and Cd, 0.1 mg/kg) was observed for Pb and Cr (6.25% respectively), station S4 (13.22%), year 2007 (20.83%) and in months of May and July (11.90% each). Regarding the Cd, which was analysed only in 2010, the highest number of values exceeding the upper reference thresholds was 40%. Biomonitoring with colonies of A. mellifera could contribute to improved surveillance and control systems for atmospheric pollution by integrating qualitative and quantitative assessments, thus facilitating prevention and readiness in the event of environmental crises.

Effectiveness of Different Sample Treatments for the Elemental Characterization of Bees and Beehive Products

“…Flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F-AAS) has been often employed for the low-cost and rapid determination of high concentrations of metals [ 21 , 22 , 28 ]. To control the quality of honey and other beehive products in terms of contamination by heavy metals, many sensitive techniques are required, including graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GF-AAS) [ 17 , 19 ], electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ET-AAS) [ 29 , 30 ], microwave plasma technique atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES) [ 31 ], inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) [ 14 , 16 , 24 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) [ 14 , 18 , 20 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. In addition, other atomic techniques, such as atomic analyzer mercury (AMA), hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) and cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS), have been employed in environmental studies for the determination of Hg, As and Se [ 40 , 41 ].…”

Pollutants and Their Interaction with Diseases of Social Hymenoptera

“…Plants may take up heavy metals which, in turn, are ingested by social bees collecting pollen and nectar. Also, other herbivorous insects serving as prey for social wasps may accumulate these pollutants, which may result in the increased exposure of these predatory wasps to heavy metals [35,36,47,63,65,[68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80]. Pesticides (or their residues) and heavy metals, as well as other pollutants from combustion, traffic, agriculture, and coal mining, can also form or bind to fine particulate matter [66,[81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91] that pollutes the air.…”

Honeybees and their products as bioindicators for heavy metal pollution in Malta

“…Roman (2010) reported a value of 0.65 µg g -1 for Cd. Several studies were performed on honeybees by a number of research groups (Porrini et al, 2003;Gutiérrez et al, 2015;Van der Steen, 2016;Zhelyazkova et al, 2010;Perugini et al, 2010;Satta et al, 2012;Roman, 2010;Conti & Botrè, 2001). In this study Sn was the highest, followed by As, Ni Pb, Zn, Cu.…”